WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance is worried about love being found in the wrong places — like Tinder, Hinge or Bumble.
The veep is so concerned about dating apps that he brought the issue up with Pope Leo XIV when they spoke over the weekend in Rome, raising the issue in a conversation about AI.
“If you look at basic dating behavior among young people — and I think a lot of this is that the dating apps are probably more destructive than we fully appreciate,” Vance said in a New York Times interview published Wednesday, noting that he spoke to the Holy Father about his concerns.
“I think part of it is technology has just for some reason made it harder for young men and young women to communicate with each other in the same way,” Vance added of the dangers of online dating.
“Our young men and women just aren’t dating, and if they’re not dating, they’re not getting married, they’re not starting families.”
The Catholic VP has long discussed ways to increase the birthrate in the US and encourage families, as couples choose to have families later and later — or not have kids at all.
More and more people are meeting their partners online instead of striking up conversations in person.
The threat of AI, Vance said, is even more concerning with young people engaging with “chatbots” online and becoming isolated from society, unable to make genuine connections.
“There’s a level of isolation, I think, mediated through technology, that technology can be a bit of a salve. It can be a bit of a Band-Aid. Maybe it makes you feel less lonely, even when you are lonely. But this is where I think AI could be profoundly dark and negative,” Vance told the outlet.
“I don’t think it’ll mean three million truck drivers are out of a job. I certainly hope it doesn’t mean that. But what I do really worry about is does it mean that there are millions of American teenagers talking to chatbots who don’t have their best interests at heart?
“Or even if they do have their best interests at heart, they start to develop a relationship, they start to expect a chatbot that’s trying to give a dopamine rush, and, you know, compared to a chatbot, a normal human interaction is not going to be as satisfying, because human beings have wants and needs.”
The newly elected Pope has said he’s worried about the Catholic response to the development of AI and how that will change society — similar to what his previous namesake, Pope Leo XIII, went through with the Industrial Revolution.
Vance said AI could bring about other issues as well, like the lack of cybersecurity, where your bank accounts could be hacked, and how China will use the technology.
