The roses are gone and heart-shaped boxes of chocolate have been consumed, and while the greeting cards may have been replaced, that doesn’t mean that love nor the business of dating and matching are not still in full swing. 

In fact, the dating industry is not only thriving but one of the biggest adopters in the latest technological innovations of our time. Market analysis into the online dating industry has taken off in the past five years, and it is about time we take a deeper dive into the technology behind modern love.

If you’ve ever been on a dating app, especially if you have a profile on one of the better-known ones, then there’s a good chance that you’re familiar with the process by now: You go to the app, scroll through dozens or even hundreds of profiles in order to find one that catches your eye. If you like what you see, you send them a message. Maybe they respond; maybe not. And if things go well, you meet in person and take it from there. That’s all fine and dandy, but does it really work? 

Several of today’s most prominent trends in AI, from personalization to user privacy, have been quietly filtering into the online dating industry. And somewhere along the way, these dating apps have actually become the ones setting the standards for what success looks like when it comes to impactful AI-powered user experiences.

The bedrock of any successful AI initiative is the right data. By now, dating apps have discovered that matching people purely based on their geographic location, age or other superficial details won’t cut it. Instead, they need to get at the heart of the matter.

With thousands or millions of people on any given dating app, it’s imperative that users don’t waste their time swiping on people who they’d never be interested in. AI can help highlight potential matches who are both active on the app and have similar preferences and interests in the hopes that every pairing could result in a meaningful connection. For instance, Hinge has a “Most Compatible” feature, which analyzes a user’s preferences and sends recommendations of matches that it thinks will be a particularly good fit. Coffee Meets Bagel shares a selection of curated profiles for users to look at each day at noon via their “smart algorithm,” and DNA Romance takes it one step further by matching users with potential partners based on genetics.

The question of user safety has long loomed over online dating, so some apps are leveraging AI to address this. AI can help instantly improve user safety online, and stop harassment before it starts. Several apps have already rolled out safety features. For instance, Tinder’s “Are You Sure?” algorithm scans messages and compares them against text that’s been reported for inappropriate language in the past. Similarly, researchers have reportedly designed AI that analyzes dating profiles and pinpoints potential fakes.

Sometimes inspiration comes from unexpected places. Dating apps could, perhaps surprisingly, help establish a larger industry standard for things like AI-powered personalization, efficiency and safety—which could provide a better user experience every step of the way. Other companies can and should take note: Everything from ensuring curated and safe social feeds to recommending videos to view and clothing to buy rests on precisely the same principles dating apps use to help people find “the one.” And clearly it’s working! Millions of people put their trust in these apps every day. As they continue to rewrite the script on how to leverage AI to create excellent customer experiences, I think it’s time to start embracing the shift and swiping right on their strategy.

Turning our everyday lives virtual will take some adapting and new approaches to common activities, including sex.

Mark Zuckerberg recently said he thinks people will one day spend most of their time in the metaverse.

“The sex industry has been driving technological innovations for years, since VHS tapes, and I think the expanding technology and room for fantasy in the metaverse will provide a great environment for not just Dreamcam users but sexually curious individuals to try new things.” Daniel Golden, vice president of adult site DreamCam, said in a recent interview.

He thinks sex in the metaverse has a number of positives and could become just as common as sex in real life.

Afterall, sex is a part of life, whether that’s in the metaverse or not. Moreover in the metaverse it doesn’t matter what you look like and users even get to choose. Which means people who feel insecure about how they look when they have sex so they might choose to utilize the metaverse more.

Even though right now, common examples of the metaverse look like something out of the Sims video game, that doesn’t seem to draw back the cybersex industry.

Golden and cam model Evans think sex in the metaverse could eventually feel the same as sex in real life.

“Just because it’s virtual, doesn’t mean it isn’t sex. Thanks to the fast-paced world of haptic devices and “real-feel” sex toys, VR sex could one day be just as good. Society defines sex as a wide range of interactions so it’s not just physical penetration that we can call “real sex”, Cam model Evans added.

Golden thinks it may turn out to be equally as enjoyable, thanks to the fast growing sex tech in the works right now, like synchronizing sex toys.

Anonymous, affordable, limitless virtual sex is an integral part of the post-pandemic Great Reset, according to which ordinary humans will “own nothing and be happy.”

In the era of online education, teachers are finding it close to impossible to hold classes for students in an interesting and enjoyable way. One teacher from Taiwan, however, have come up with the most hardcore way to teach calculus: post the videos on Pornhub.

Fantasies with teachers is one of the main kinks on the adult streaming platform. A clip usually starts with a lesson before the learning session goes south. However, a Taiwanese mathematician on the site solves calculus without stripping down in the process.

Changshu, going by the handle changshumath666, has taken his teaching methods to the extreme by uploading over 200 videos of him teaching calculus on the pornographic website.

Changshu holds a master’s degree in mathematics and has been teaching both in Taiwanese schools and online for the past 15 years. Talking to Mel Magazine, he originally tried uploading his teaching videos on his YouTube channel, but he didn’t do as well as he hoped he would in terms of engagements.

“Since very few people teach math on adult video platforms, and since there are so many people who watch videos on them, I thought that if I uploaded my videos there, a lot of people would see them,” said Changshu.

Thus, in 2020, he thought of migrating to the mature video website. Even though his more than 6,500 subscribers on PornHub is lesser than his 22,800 subscribers over at YouTube, he still gets more video views on the unconventional platform. Racking up more than 1.7 million views. His “model rank” puts him at 1,684th place.

He has also tried to take his calculus videos to other pornographic websites but he says that “those platforms know which kinds of videos are adult and which aren’t, and they forbid them.”

In a recent Ask Me Anything on Reddit, the college math teacher shared some insights on why he chose an unusual platform for his study content. “We like to be special and impressive. Moreover, education shouldn’t be that traditional! Learning can be everywhere,” said Chang-Hsu.

His videos have recently embraced naughtiness. His team has also brought in known adult entertainers to collaborate on some content. But he claims his channel will never see him strip down.

Whether people visit Pornhub to learn calculus or to drop by his channel for a chuckle, Changshu doesn’t mind: “People may not be interested in my videos, but they’ll all know there’s a teacher who teaches calculus on an adult video platform. I didn’t want to teach math on Pornhub. I wanted to let the world know that I’m a teacher from Taiwan who can teach calculus well.”