Nobody outside the apps can answer this honestly, and the apps do not say. Tinder, Hinge and Bumble each publish help pages, community guidelines and terms, and not one of them states that the app detects AI-generated images. So no article can promise detection, or the lack of it.

What the apps do describe is a set of checks, and what each check compares.

The check that matters most: a live video of your face

On Tinder, Photo Verification is optional. You record a short video selfie, and Tinder compares it with your profile photos using facial recognition technology. If you pass, and a clear solo photo of your face matches the video, you get a Photo Verified badge.

Hinge's Selfie Verification is also voluntary and has two steps. First comes a liveness check, which Hinge describes as confirming "a real, live person is taking the video (not an altered or pre-recorded clip)." Then a 3D face authentication compares the video with your profile photos.

Bumble's version asks for a selfie, often copying a pose it shows you. It uses "a mix of automated and human review to make sure your selfie matches the photos in your profile," and a member who passes gets a verified badge. Bumble says verification is mandatory in some places and optional in others, and that you get a limited number of retries.

In some places Tinder and Hinge require a Face Check as well, a video selfie scan they describe as helping to estimate age and check the photos.

What the liveness check is not

It is easy to read "liveness check" as "fake image detector." That is not what the apps say.

Tinder says its liveness step uses facial scanning to check that the video "was taken of a real, live person, and that it was not digitally altered or manipulated." That sentence is about the video selfie. It does not describe a test run on the photos you uploaded.

Hinge words it the same way. The liveness step is about the recording, not the pictures.

Tinder and Hinge also say what a badge does not mean. Both say verification does not vouch for a person's identity or safety.

Does Tinder use facial recognition?

By Tinder's own description, yes, in one place. Photo Verification compares your video selfie with your profile photos using facial recognition technology. Tinder says the video yields a facial geometry. It is used to check that you are the same person as in the photos. A second reading is compared with other accounts, to help detect whether other profiles are using your likeness.

Tinder also runs a Photo Selector tool that works on your own device. It can compare a selfie with photos in your camera roll to suggest which to use, and Tinder says it does not collect, store or receive the biometrics that feature generates.

Bumble's separate safety tools

Bumble runs something it calls Deception Detector, described as "an AI-powered safety feature designed to help spot fake, spam, scam, and other inauthentic accounts." It uses machine learning to look for signs that an account may not be real, with human moderators behind it.

Bumble's Online Safety Act page says it analyses profile data, engagement and account activity. It also says its anti-spam team analyses photo authenticity and behavior. Flagged accounts are blocked if fraud is confirmed, or asked to complete more verification.

Bumble also offers an optional feedback tool on your photos. It looks for general things, such as whether a shot is outdoors or a selfie, and Bumble says it "does not try to identify you, recognise faces, or determine who you are." It gives tips, and you decide whether to act on them.

What this means for a man choosing photos

Set the checks side by side and they share one step. Each compares a live selfie of your face with the photos on your account.

Our view: that makes likeness the thing to get right, because the comparison is between you and your pictures. The photo to worry about is any photo that turns you into a different man, whatever tool made it. She will notice that at the bar.

Tinder builds the same likeness check into its own tool. Its Photo Enhance feature includes "an automatic check to confirm that the enhanced photo still looks like you to preserve authenticity."

Photos that truly look like you are fine to use. A few habits keep that true:

  • Keep at least one clear photo of your face, alone, facing the camera.
  • Expect to redo a check if you change your photos. Tinder and Hinge both say new photos can affect your verified status.
  • Judge each photo the way a stranger would. Ask a friend if the man in it looks like the man he knows.

The aim is a set of photos that still looks like you on the night she meets you.