A lot has changed over the years when it comes to dating and how we go about the process. In generations past, men went to the woman’s family and asked her father for permission to date his daughter. They had long courtships and boundaries were made and respected.
As times progressed, the way we’ve dated has changed, slowly becoming more relaxed and carefree. Today may be one of the easiest, but also hardest, times for dating because we are finding our footing with what is expected and acceptable in a world where we want gender equality but still strive to be courted like our grandmothers were.
In a recent study conducted by the Imperial College Business School, researchers predict what dating may be like in 2040. This report is based off of more than 100 years’ worth of trend data and interviews with experts from various fields like anthropology, sociology, technology, and even biomedicine. These experts came together to predict what relationships and online dating would be like in 2040.
Full-sensory virtual dating
This intriguing report suggests that in a short time span of 25 years, the rate of how quickly data can be shared will be so fast that all five of the human senses could be simulated digitally at any single moment, thus giving you a full-sensory reality.
A full-sensory online date would mimic a real date but without you ever leaving your home. This means that you could hold your date’s hand and smell their cologne. With this advancement in technology, it means that you could actually “meet” them online before you ever agree to meet them face to face. This revolutionary technology would open the dating pool to encompass everyone around the world, thus changing what we think of as a long distance relationship.
Biotechnology
It is in our genes to find someone who are a good genetic match for us. We seek out these people to ensure that our children have the best chances of survival and thrive. In 2003, it cost approximately $80 million to sequence DNA from a cell. In 2015, it dropped significantly to $14,892. With the use of DNA analysis with the potential to unlock the laws of attraction, the cost could drop as low as $1,000 by 2040. Thanks to the increased affordability, more research can be conducted into this field and give us a better look into how our own DNA contributes to what we find physically and emotionally attractive.
Behavior-based matching
There’s no denying that we are at a point with technology that we are ever connected to our handheld devices. Wearable tech is growing in popularity and it will greatly change the way people meet one another in 2040. It is believed that traditional dating profiles that are usually created by filling out questionnaires, romantic matchmaking could become even more precise thanks to an online behavioral tracking system, as well as a device that interprets live reactions like heart rate, facial recognition, and even something as intricate as neural signals in your brain.
By 2040, researchers believe that our genetic makeup combined with chemical and electrical signal analysis will be used to help us understand our preferences for online dating. Who needs questionnaires when your live reactions and internet history can be analyzed and a specific algorithm will be designed to help you find your best match.
Artificial Intelligence
Technology won’t just help you decide who you should go on and date, but we would be able to start relying on the use of smart technology like big data and machine learning to help influence the bigger life decisions. These decisions could be to question like when you should get married, how many kids to have but it can also help with simple tasks like what to have for dinner or what route to take to work. We still have a long way to go before we reach the point when dating is made simple and we don’t have to go it alone, if you will. We hope that with the technological advances like these won’t make dating so formulaic that we are desensitized to the whole process and just think of our potential partner as some computer generated match and nothing more.