For years, some daters have used chatbots to flirt for them. Now, one of these "wingman" apps has leaked hundreds of thousands of messages.
The makers of FlirtAI, which promotes itself as the "#1 AI Flirt Assistant Keyboard" on the App Store, have leaked 160,000 screenshots that users have shared with the app, according to an investigation by Cybernews. FlirtAI promises to help craft "charming, personalized, and instant" messages to dating app matches, its App Store description says. On the App Store, FlirtAI says it "works with every dating and chat app," and lists many of the most popular of each, including Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
Users upload screenshots of their private dating app conversations, and FlirtAI generates responses. FlirtAI's privacy policy mentions this method: "When you use our service, we may collect certain information from you, including the prompts and text detected inside the uploaded screenshots." It also states that uploading screenshots implies that everyone involved has consented to the use of FlirtAI.
The Cybernews team found an unprotected Google Cloud Storage bucket owned by Buddy Network GmbH, the company behind FlirtAI, containing such screenshots of conversations and dating app profiles. After the team notified the company, it closed the exposed bucket.
Cybernews said that the leak data appeared to contain screenshots from a large number of teenage users. According to initial research out of MIT, using ChatGPT to write for you can impair cognitive ability. And while FlirtAI isn't an AI companion, researchers at Common Sense Media say that AI companions aren't safe for teens, because they can become emotionally dependent on them. One section of FlirtAI's privacy policy states that minors may not use the app, while another states that teens over 13 can use it with permission from a parent or guardian.
Buddy Network GmbH has also created an app to talk to an "angel" AI and a "90-second AI journal" app. Mashable has contacted the company.
