Bumble has introduced an advanced protection tool based on artificial intelligence called Integrity Monitor, designed to pre-emptively screen out fake profiles, fraudulent activities, and spam. The Integrity Monitor’s job is to deal with malicious content early, making it less likely that Bumble users will encounter these errors.
Tests conducted by the company have shown that Integrity Monitor can block 95% of accounts identified as spam or fraud. During the initial 60-day trial period, there was a noticeable 45% reduction in user complaints about fake accounts and fraudulent schemes. This tool complements the efforts of Bumble’s physical verification team.
The introduction of this feature is timely as Bumble’s internal research indicates significant user concern about the prevalence of fake profiles and the risk of being scammed when looking for relationships online. According to the data, quite a few users, including 46% of women, feel apprehensive about the sincerity of the profiles they come across on dating apps.
“Bumble Inc. is committed to fostering peer-to-peer connections and encouraging women to initiate interactions,” said Bumble CEO Lydian Jones. “Integrity Monitoring underscores our undying commitment to our user base to improve authentic interactions on our platforms.” Jones acknowledged the critical importance of trust, especially in this era of artificial intelligence becoming more common.
The Federal Trade Commission highlighted the seriousness of romance fraud, with a staggering $1.3 billion in losses to victims in 2022 alone, with an average individual loss of $4,400. According to their findings, while dating platforms are commonly used by romance scammers, direct messaging on social networking sites is a more common approach. Specifically, 40% of cheaters said the initial contact was made via social media, and 19% said they made contact via a dating app or website.
Bumble’s deployment of Integrity Monitor is part of a broader strategy to improve user security through AI innovation. In 2019, the company launched Private Detector, a feature that blurs out candid images and tags them, giving users the option to either view the content at their discretion or report the sender.
Another AI integration from Bumble is evident in “Bumble For Friends,” an app focused on fostering friendships where users are provided with AI-generated conversations tailored to the user’s profile to initiate chats. While users can change the suggested opening lines or request alternatives, only one AI-generated icebreaker can be used per chat. The Private Detector and Integrity Monitor features are active on the original Bumble platform, as well as on the companion service Bumble For Friends.