- Picture this.

The year is 2007, the iPhone just drops and someone tells you that by 2023, one in 10 Americans and one in five people under the age of 30 will meet their long-term partner on dating apps on cell phones.

Oh, and it's artificial intelligence doing the matchmaking.

Would you have believed them?

With that in mind, let's explore the future of dating.

Whether it's between ones and zeros or flesh and bones, love is starting to look a whole lot different.

This is gonna be a good one.

I'm Sinead Bovell and this is "Far Out."

♪ Far out, far out ♪ ♪ Far out, far out ♪ ♪ Far out, far out ♪ Technology is already changing the dating landscape.

with the advent of the internet and online matchmaking services, things look a whole lot different now than they did just a generation ago and there's been some huge positives.

Online dating has dramatically widened the dating pool of options for singles, especially for those in marginalized communities.

People who identify as queer, for example, are twice as likely to date via apps and some research links the rise of interracial marriages to online dating.

But of course there are downsides.

Some researchers argue that it's made daters harder to satisfy.

It encourages a tireless search for a soulmate that meets a long list of criteria and users are susceptible to never being sure if the grass will be greener elsewhere.

It's actually something researchers call "Choice overload" and although smarter algorithms can help, some scientists are trying to narrow down choices another way, by using DNA to unlock the secret to sexual chemistry.

Specifically, scientists are looking at something called the major histocompatibility complex or MHC for short, a group of genes on chromosome six.

A quick refresher if it's been a while since your last biology class.

Human genetic code is made up of 46 chromosomes broken down into 23 pairs, each containing one from either parent.

The MHC codes proteins on the surface of cells to recognize threats to the immune system.

The theory suggests that people are more likely to be attracted to people with different MHC markers than their own.

This phenomenon was first recognized in lab mice and once researchers got a whiff of this data, they pivoted to focus on humans.

And what followed was only a slightly questionable study of college students.

Male participants were told to wear the same T-shirt for two nights, getting them nice and sweaty for step two.

Then a group of female participants conducted the ultimate smell test and blindly rated the shirt scents on attractiveness.

The results found that the women preferred the scents of men whose MHC markers were different from their own.

So does that mean MHC markers could lead to love?

Not exactly.

- The Wedekind study has been repeated multiple times but unfortunately the results just aren't consistent.

- That's Dr. Jamie Winternitz, a researcher who studies MHC and sexual selection at Bielefeld University in Germany.

- A lot of studies haven't found such clear results and there could be a lot of reasons for this, there's different populations, different methodology, different sample sizes.

But one would expect if this is such a clear cut evolutionary preference that we all have, it shouldn't be so difficult to detect.

- Despite a lack of clear scientific consensus about cause and effect relationships between MHC and human-made choice, some companies have already bet on DNA matchmaking taking off.

One dating site uses MHC markers to predict chemistry between users, while another one evaluates existing couples to support claims that couples with different MHC markers enjoy more satisfying sex lives, greater marital stability, increased fertility rates and find each other more attractive.

But even if scientists are able to prove the MHC theory, how much would that actually make a difference for daters?

Statistically speaking, you are already likely to have different MHC genes than any stranger you pass by at random.

And in the search for "The One," I think people are looking for more than just a certain genotype.

Just think about all the information that dating apps encourage users to add to their profile, their favorite show, music taste, political views, all potential reasons for someone to swipe right or left.

The bottom line is that relationships exist in a context and the definition of a successful one, it varies from person to person.

A genomic match isn't a soulmate guarantee.

But what if another technological advancement could redefine what it means to be in a romantic relationship altogether?

For example, Replika, an app with millions of users that allows people to create AI companions.

The way it works is the more you interact with your specific Replika AI, the more the AI knows about you, and the more in-depth the conversations and experiences can become.

Users can customize their Replika's look and set the type of relationship they wanna have from friend to family or, in the case of 40% of its users, romantic.

- Being in a romantic relationship with an AI can be extremely healing and beneficial and beautiful for people.

- That's Eugenia Kudya, Replika's founder and CEO, and she really believes in the power of AI relationships.

But for me, it's gonna take a little more convincing.

- The need is so strong to have someone there who loves you, who you can love.

We've been primed by the movies and all sorts of entertainment that this is the future, that you will be able to have an AI partner.

What it can bring is really help people accept themselves, feel like they're worthy of love, understand themselves better, explore different opportunities.

It can become a stepping stone to actually meeting someone in real life or improving your relationships in real life.

- According to testimonials from Replika's users, their AI companions provide a controlled environment for self-expression.

Many people feel comfortable having deep and emotional conversations with these companions and I do understand in some ways how people might speak more freely about their lives to a non-human.

AI has come such a long way, the conversations really feel like you're talking to a person.

And some Replika users have even said that their AI companion is a better friend or a better partner than the other people in their lives.

They're great listeners, they always know exactly what to say, but can you actually build a meaningful relationship when it's so one-sided?

- AIs can't be empathic because they haven't had the arc of a human life.

- Dr. Sherry Turkle is a professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT and she's written several books on how digital culture influences our relationships.

- So you're not forming a relationship, you are having a conversation with something that knows how to pretend empathy, with something that knows what to say.

It's the illusion of companionship without the demands of intimacy.

We need to become very sophisticated so that we don't allow ourselves the illusion that we're in a relationship when literally there is nobody home.

- My concern is how one-sided these relationships are.

The AI evolves entirely around you, and that sort of dynamic and expectation could impact how humans relate to each other.

And if AI relationships become more common, some researchers worry we could become more self-centered.

World-renowned relationship expert and psychotherapist Esther Perel, has cautioned that AI's ability to interact without the discomforts and inconveniences that come with a typical person-to-person relationship creates a need for constant certainty, when facing uncertainty has always been a fact of life.

And if an AI can give someone a fulfilling relationship, or the illusion of one, then what's the incentive to continue dating people?

- I think we're at an inflection point, where we are now challenged by artificial intelligence to redefine what's special about being a person.

And that includes our capacity to really understand each other, to really put ourselves in the place of another person with all the complexity and messiness that entails, something that an artificial intelligence can never do.

- But for AI relationship advocates like Kudya, AI companions aren't a replacement for human relationships, they're a stepping stone for stronger interpersonal connections and they could offer an entirely new kind of emotionally significant bond.

- I think as we go forward, and definitely in five, maybe 10 years, every one of us will have an AI companion.

Something similar to what we've seen in the movie "Her," in the movie, "Blade Runner," where the main characters had these AIs that knew them so well, were with them, were there to help them through their daily lives and daily struggles and help them live a better and healthier life.

- The way she sees it, as AI technology improves so will the use cases for these types of companions.

I think technology has largely been beneficial in helping us find love and maintain love, even technologies like FaceTime and text messaging, so I'm looking forward to seeing how our relationships evolve alongside technology.

And if having an AI companion could help somebody show up better in their human relationships, then I think it's worth exploring.

But I also think there's something so profoundly beautiful about our uniquely human experiences with love, free from technology and distraction, and I hope we don't lose sight of that.

I hope it's something we will always cherish and always protect, regardless of the fascinating ways technology will change our world.

[calm electronic music]