I founded Seeking.com in 2006 with one clear vision: to create a platform for authentic and meaningful connections among the world’s most successful and attractive individuals. That vision became deeply personal for me when, in 2020, I met Dana on Seeking.com. We married on June 9, 2022, notably without a prenuptial agreement, choosing instead to waive our rights to divorce entirely. Today, Dana and I proudly run Seeking.com together as co-CEOs.
While online dating has transformed relationships, fostering millions of meaningful connections like ours, the rapid advancement of AI has introduced new challenges, particularly in the form of deceptive bots. These aren’t the easily-spotted, poorly-written spam accounts of the past. Today’s bots leverage sophisticated generative AI to create realistic personas, convincing photos, and genuine-sounding conversations, all with the sinister intention of misleading users or committing fraud.
The Dark Side of AI: Exploiting Human Trust
AI-driven bots primarily focus on two harmful activities: artificially inflating engagement metrics and scamming innocent users. The scale of this problem is alarming. Romance scams alone cost victims over $1.14 billion in the U.S. in 2023, much of it fueled by AI-generated fake profiles and chatbots. On some platforms, up to 30% of profiles may be fake, demonstrating the severity of the issue. Scammers now use generative adversarial networks (GANs) to create hyper-realistic images of people who do not exist, making it impossible for even tech-savvy users to detect via reverse image searches.
Moreover, AI-powered chatbots, driven by advanced natural language processing models like GPT-4, engage users in convincingly human conversations, capable of remembering personal details and mimicking intimacy and emotional connection. Such bots tirelessly interact day and night to manipulate users into emotional investment, eventually exploiting their trust for financial gain.
Even more troubling is the emergence of deep fake technology in romance scams. AI-driven video and audio manipulation allow scammers to convincingly impersonate real individuals during live interactions, undermining traditional verification methods like video calls. This technology has already resulted in significant emotional and financial harm, with one victim reportedly losing €830,000 to a scam involving a deep fake impersonation of a celebrity.
How Seeking.com Uses AI to Defend Authenticity
At Seeking.com, we understand these risks and prioritize the safety and trust of our community above all else. Our comprehensive strategy includes:
- Fully Automated AI-Powered Selfie Verification: Members perform quick selfie checks that leverage advanced AI liveness detection to ensure real, live individuals rather than deep fakes or static images.
- Human-in-the-Loop AI-Assisted Moderation: Proactive systems identify and flag suspicious content, complemented by human moderators to manage complex or nuanced situations.
- AI-Assisted Detection and Immediate Suspension of Bad Actors: Our systems swiftly identify and remove scammers, fraudsters, and violators of our terms, significantly reducing fraudulent activity.
- Automated Date-of-Birth Checks: Suspicious accounts trigger automated age verification, adding another layer of protection against underage usage.
- Semi-Autonomous ID Verification: Integrating AI with human oversight ensures accuracy and fairness while reducing errors in identity verification processes.
- Global Safety Infrastructure: Our robust safety tools operate effectively across more than 200 countries, ensuring a consistently secure experience worldwide.
Since implementing these measures, over one-third of active Seeking members have completed our Selfie Liveness Check as of early 2025, receiving a Verified Badge, a clear mark of authenticity for other users.
Using AI to Foster Deeper Human Connections
Beyond protecting our users from bad actors, the advanced AI tools we’re developing at Seeking.com serve an even greater purpose: to profoundly understand our users themselves. By leveraging AI to gain deeper insights into each user’s intentions, personality, preferences, and even their level of consciousness, we can facilitate connections that go far beyond superficial attraction. Our vision is to identify opportunities where genuine sparks can ignite, creating meaningful relationships based on compatibility at a deeper, more intrinsic level.
Dana and I have dedicated ourselves to changing the world through this mission: spreading authentic relationships, one couple at a time. We believe that by matching individuals who resonate profoundly with each other, Seeking.com can help foster relationships that genuinely enrich lives.
Rebuilding Trust in the Age of AI
For Dana and me, trust isn’t merely an ideal; it’s foundational to our personal and professional lives. As AI poses new threats, we proactively use it to safeguard, empower, and enhance real human connections. Our investment in user safety, authenticity, and deeper human understanding has become integral to our brand identity, setting Seeking.com apart as a leader in the industry.
Calling for Industry-Wide Accountability
The online dating industry is at a critical juncture. A recent UK survey found 86% of singles are deeply concerned about the impact of deep fakes, and 78% believe dating services should be held responsible for preventing AI-driven fraud. Clearly, the ethical and business imperative for transparency, verification, and user protection has never been higher.
As co-CEOs of Seeking.com, Dana and I call upon other platforms to prioritize genuine human connection over superficial metrics. The future of online dating depends on collective action and stringent safeguards to restore user trust and ensure platforms remain safe spaces for authentic relationships.
Ultimately, when people use dating platforms, they’re searching for something profoundly real. It’s our responsibility, and privilege, to ensure they find exactly that, creating lasting love and authentic connections that change lives.
About Seeking.com
Founded in 2006, Seeking.com is now the world’s largest luxury dating platform, boasting over 46 million members worldwide. Dedicated exclusively to beautiful, wealthy, and successful individuals seeking emotionally fulfilling relationships, we redefine luxury dating beyond mere financial prosperity. Through complementary hypergamy, we foster mutual empowerment and shared upliftment in relationships.
Our co-CEOs’ personal story reflects the transformative power of Seeking.com: Brandon Wade, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from MIT, met Dana Rosewall, a University of Central Florida graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, on the platform in 2020. They married without a prenup and waived their rights to divorce, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to their relationship and their shared vision for Seeking.com. Today, they guide the platform toward continued innovation, safety, and genuine connection.
For more, visit Seeking.com and follow @seeking on social platforms.
