Key Takeaways
- Match Group’s Affinity Apps is partnering with Qloo’s cultural AI tech to help apps that cater to specific cultural groups make more authentic connections.
- Qloo’s proprietary AI tech dives deep into the consumer’s tastes so they can describe themselves as accurately, and as uniquely, as possible.
- The partnership points to the need of modern daters to forge authentic bonds using AI as a helpful tool, not as an emotional or intellectual supplement.
Modern daters want to make authentic connections, and Affinity Apps thinks cultural AI tech may be the way to do it. Seventy percent of users testing its cultural AI tech said they received a 70% increase in likes.
Affinity Apps, the subsidiary behind Match Group’s BLK, Chispa, Upward, and Yuzu dating apps, is partnering with Qloo and its proprietary cultural AI, which is called “Currently Into” on the apps.
BLK, Chispa, Upward, and Yuzu each cater to specific cultural and religious groups — Black, Latin, Christian, and Asian daters, respectively — and are uniquely suited to a cultural AI tool that helps them make more authentic connections beyond surface-level demographic targeting.
Daters in these cultural communities — which, it’s worth mentioning, are often underserved — sometimes meet according to proximity, not because of a genuine connection. They also contend with the classic pitfalls of modern dating apps, from vague, hollow profiles to superficial connections.
A cultural AI like that owned by Qloo intends to change that. Affinity Apps and Qloo’s partnership just may redefine what it means to infuse the dating world with AI capabilities. It’s not just about increased convenience and efficiency, but accuracy, personalization, and in this case, cultural sensitivity.
A Cultural AI That Gets to the Heart of the User
Whether AI can truly understand a human’s needs is a matter for a different article. Qloo’s cultural AI simply helps BLK, Chispa, Upward, and Yuzu consumers access their own heart’s desires for themselves.
The question “What do you enjoy?” can be far too vague for some daters, leading to overthinking, stress, and inaccurate connections. Qloo’s Currently Into is not only designed to help users find the words to describe their interests, but to help them figure out what those interests are in the first place.
Qloo’s cultural AI is meant to stand out from ordinary AI tools in terms of its scale and depth. Qloo claims to have compiled “the world’s most robust consumer taste database” with a “proprietary entity catalogue” containing billions of personality records.
These records break down consumer tastes into increasingly specific categories, including music, film, travel, television, sports, dining — the list goes on, and on, and on.
“At Qloo, we believe taste is one of the most expressive forms of identity, and our technology is uniquely positioned to bring that to life,” said Coby Santos, Chief Product Officer at Qloo.
Affinity Apps refers to these unique tastes as much-needed “texture.” “Users don’t just want to be seen — they want to be understood,” said Rahim Makani, Director of Product at Affinity Apps. “With Qloo’s API, we’re giving people the tools to represent themselves with greater texture and individuality, while unlocking smarter discovery across the platform.”
And texture, individuality, and accuracy are never more valuable than in cultural settings, such as those found on BLK, Chispa, Upward, and Yuzu.
For Niche Dating Apps, Precision and Personalization Are Key
Qloo’s goal — deep, insightful connections based on real compatibility — is aligned with Affinity Apps’ goal, which, naturally, matches the modern dater’s desire to make authentic bonds.
No more surface-level “likes” and “dislikes”; today’s daters want more than “I like sports.” They want to hear, “I love basketball, and this is why.” This level of insight into people’s tastes are especially valuable in cultural settings, which tend to have their own traditions and beliefs.
With a cultural AI like Qloo, Affinity Apps hopes to prompt more constructive and meaningful dialogues between potential matches. The AI tech also inspires more personalized profiles that quickly get to the heart of each individual dater’s tastes.
Affinity Apps not only wants to better understand its audience, it wants its audience to better understand each other. Currently Into’s goal is to give all dating app users, but particularly those in neglected or niche communities, a chance to represent themselves as accurately and as uniquely as possible.
So far, Yuzu daters have responded positively to Currently Into. Its success supports what we already knew: Modern daters want AI solutions that support their human qualities, not suppress them.
