Today’s AI technology may be far from human, but that hasn’t stopped matchmaking companies from marketing AI assistants as the advice-giving BFFs of the consumer’s dreams. Fliry is dating app Flirtini’s version of a “trusty dating sidekick”, and Smooth Talker crafts pickup lines for Wingmanx users. But are AI-generated pickup lines, icebreakers, and sweet-nothings really the route to romance?
Ari, the AI wing girl, is one of the newest AI dating assistants on the scene, and she intends to answer the above with a resounding “yes.” Built from real-world data gathered from matchmaking service VIDA Select’s 15+ years of experience, Ari provides personalized advice among other premium features for $20 per month.

Dating apps are minefields of catfish and ghosters, awkward moments and missed connections. VIDA’s experts claim that the average man faces 111 rejections before finding a single match on a dating app. Ask any man on the average dating app, and chances are, he has a bone to pick with the 10% of men who receive 90% of all matches.
AI Dating Assistants Like Ari Are There For You
A 2024 Norton study found that over half of those surveyed (59%) have considered using AI as an online dating coach. And with some experts referring to the dating app system as “broken,” can we really blame people for craving a little artificial intelligence? Dating coaches and matchmakers aim to provide a high-quality service, but the high cost isn’t always attainable to the average consumer. Besides, a single guy saves money, saves face, and saves time when he can simply leave the tough stuff to AI.
It’s possible that the familiar swipe-for-matches structure has left some men feeling unwanted, or worse – unsupported by the dating app they’ve placed their hopes (and money) in. As the loneliness epidemic rages on, creativity and ingenuity have never been more important in the dating app world. Enter Ari.

VIDA Select describes Ari as the data-backed wingwoman every single guy needs. Some AI dating assistants churn out corny or robotic phrases, but Ari is designed to have a warm, inviting tone and girl-next-door personality. If the average male dating app user is intimidated by sending the first message, Ari helps break the ice with personalized pickup lines and engaging messages.
A user’s personality-packed profile (or lack thereof) often stands between them and a match. Ari spruces up profiles to make them more interesting, unique, and attractive. Of course, Ari’s most fascinating feature is Ask Ari, which provides the user with real-time advice. And Ari’s advice isn’t random; it comes from the countless messages and success stories that VIDA Select has gathered over the last 15 years.
At the end of the day, though, a robot is still the one sending flirty messages instead of you. Some argue that dating apps are as organic as real-world dating gets in the 21st century, while others believe that an artificial setting calls for an equally-artifical AI assistant.
AI Isn’t Just A Product — It’s A Movement
Dr. Sherry Turkle, sociologist and MIT professor, has questioned the role technology plays in our ability to relate to one another. “As we spent more of our lives online, many of us came to prefer relating through screens to any other kind of relating,” she said in her keynote speech at the Conference on AI & Democracy. “We found the pleasures of companionship without the demands of friendship, the feeling of intimacy without the demands of reciprocity, and crucially, we became accustomed to treating programs as people.”
Technology has always been viewed as a shortcut, a way to achieve an end-goal more efficiently. For business owners, tech is an understandably compelling world, one that seems to be leading the way into the future (and into the consumer’s pockets). But when the end goal is as abstract as love, technology can only get us so far. As many matchmakers and dating coaches would likely claim, real intimacy and human bonding can only happen in person — right?

Not necessarily, according to Scott Valdez, Co-Founder and CEO of Ari and VIDA Select. “Importantly, Ari doesn’t take away the real human element — she empowers it,” he said. “The real problem isn’t too much AI in dating — it’s that we don’t have enough. Our goal is to empower people to form genuine connections.”
“We’re not just launching a product,” he clarified. “We’re launching a movement.”
Then there’s the question of ethics. Sure, AI assistants like Ari may be intended to help rather than hurt. But what about the person on the other end of the phone, the one who thinks those artfully-crafted sweet nothings were written by a flesh-and-blood human?
Liesel Sharabi, a dating app researcher and professor at Arizona State University, echoed this concern in an interview with the CBC. “There’s this question of to what extent should we be allowing people to use AI to represent themselves? When does that become deceptive, and when is it helpful?”
The easy answer? That it’s up to the consumer to decide the ethics for themselves. Those who have given Ari a spin have reported an average 300% increase in dates within one month. With this kind of success, it’s no wonder Ari has attracted pre-seed investment interest from unicorn founders. Whether it’s determined to be deceptive or helpful, one thing is for sure: AI assistants like Ari are here to stay. And since VIDA Select boasts 30,000+ successful interactions, 9,867 successful dates, and 1,898 happy couples since its inception in 2009, one could argue that Ari is one of the only AI dating assistants backed by real-world intelligence, not only the artificial kind.