Tinder Users at SXSW Fall for a Robot in Marketing Stunt

Ex MachinaTinder users at this years South by Southwest (SXSW) festival have found themselves part of a clever marketing stunt as they were seduced by a chatbot promoting a new film premiering at the event.

The film in question, Ex Machina, had its US premiere at the festival in Austin, Texas, and deals with a worker for an internet search company brought to meet his brilliant, reclusive boss to test an artificial intelligence he has created for a genuine consciousness.

To promote the film, the makers developed a chatbot for the Tinder dating app that targeted users in and around the festival area, which used a picture of Alicia Vikander, the Swedish actress who plays the AI, Ava, in the film.

According to AdWeek, the chatbot asked users if they had ever been in love, what makes them human and what they found attractive about her, before linking them to an Instagram account promoting the film.

While the chatbot certainly fits well with the films themes and premise, it has become an increasing problem on Tinder, with the company recently taking steps to reduce the number of automated programs using the service, as well as limiting the number of matches people can make within a 12 hour period to stop users who swipe right on every users, and improving its process for reporting abusive accounts.