Online dating can be an arduous way to meet one’s true love. It’s not just that it can take a long time sifting through the duds before finding a gem; it’s that some people pad their resumes, fail to mention unsavory details about themselves and even hire outside professionals to hone their communications to make themselves look more clever and charming than they are.

Now, the online matchmakers have come up with an idea that seems likely to erode the confidence of their customers. The dating services are reportedly employing artificial intelligence operations to provide them with fake faces to use in advertising — images of people that look real but are not. A broader variety of faces is needed to attract a more diverse set of customers, they claim.

Maybe the idea is well intended, but it seems a dubious tactic for a service that relies so much on honesty to work successfully. For their part, the AI companies are happy to provide the mendacious mug shots. They hope it will make the public more comfortable with manufactured images that create a false reality.

And that sounds like the worst idea of all.

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