Bumble Adds New AI Tool Deception Detector to Identify Spam, Scam, and Fake Profiles

Bumble found during testing that the AI tool was able to block 95 percent of the malicious accounts automatically.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 6 February 2024 18:41 IST

Bumble Adds New AI Tool Deception Detector to Identify Spam, Scam, and Fake Profiles

Photo Credit: Bumble

Bumble’s new AI tool is tasked with taking down malicious profiles before members can see them

Highlights

Bumble’s AI tool Deception Detector is used alongside human support
Reports of scams and fake profiles declined by 45 percent during testing
Earlier, Bumble launched an AI tool that blurs obscene photos

Bumble, the popular dating app, has released a new artificial intelligence (AI)-based feature to enhance the safety of its user base. The AI tool is called Deception Detector and it can identify and block spam, scams, and fake profiles before members come across them. The feature was launched to mark the Safer Internet Day, which falls on February 6. The dating app claimed that during the testing phase of the new technology, user reports of spam, scams, and fake accounts were reduced by 45 percent.

Bumble said in a press release that it conducted a survey last year with a global sample size of 28,000 people and found that fake profiles and scams were the top concerns of the respondents. In India, 29 percent of the surveyed individuals highlighted wanting to keep their personal data safer as the top concern, while 28 percent said the risk of scams when meeting someone for the first time took priority, the company stated. The findings from this survey led to the building of Deception Detector.

The AI tool uses a machine-learning-based model to measure whether a profile and its connections on the dating app are authentic or not based on several parameters. If a profile has been identified as a spam or scam account, the tool automatically blocks it. The dating app claims that 95 percent of accounts that showed up in its testing as fraudulent were already automatically blocked by Deception Detector. However, it is being used alongside dedicated human support to minimize the risk of any malicious accounts escaping its reach, or innocent accounts being banned accidentally.

Samsung Wins Patent for a Tri-Fold Smartphone With Specialised Barrier Layer for Improved Durability

"Bumble Inc. was founded with the aim to build equitable relationships and empower women to make the first move, and Deception Detector is our latest innovation as part of our ongoing commitment to our community to help ensure that connections made on our apps are genuine. With a dedicated focus on women's experience online, we recognize that in the AI era, trust is more paramount than ever,” said Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones, in a statement. Jones also highlighted that AI remains a main area of focus for the company.

This is not the first AI tool made by the dating app. In 2019, Bumble introduced Private Detector AI, a tool that automatically blurs obscene photos sent by a user to another, and sends an alert for the same. Later, it released an open-source version of the feature on GitHub for the wider community.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Bumble, Bumble App, Artificial intelligence

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More