There’s Now a Bot Who Will Ghost People for You Because Modern Dating Is Sad
Dating is hard. And everybody in the dating pool today knows about the ghosting “phenomenon,” a technique wherein one person completely cuts off contact with another, leaving no explanation for their disappearance. It’s critiqued as “the coward’s way out of a relationship,” and, as we’ve said before, often stems from a fear of conflict and confrontation. Admittedly, this technique is not for everyone. If you’ve heard about ghosting, but have been too shy to completely and abruptly cut off contact with someone yourself: Have no fear! There’s a bot that will cut people off for you!
Yeah, seriously. There is a bot that will ghost people for you. It’s called Ghostbot, and it uses Artifical Intelligence (AI) to slowly dissuade another person from contacting you. It comes as part of an app called Burner that makes free, temporary phone numbers. Users who need to ghost a certain someone out of their lives use Burner and activate Ghostbot. (The only caveat about this whole thing is that the person you’re trying to ghost has to be contacting you via your Burner number.) Then the app will start responding to unwanted texts, in time intervals varying from minutes to hours. Eventually, the responses stop. Sound familiar?
We definitely do see the benefits of a technology like this — it’s perfect for that pushy creep who just won’t pick up on the hint when you’ve already tried to let them down easy — but we can’t help but think it’s important to set some boundaries before Ghostbot catches on, otherwise we’re all looking at a pretty bleak future of being rejected by technology. After you’ve spent some time getting to know a person, shouldn’t you do them the courtesy of distancing yourself without AI? At least try. Then, if you haven’t formed a serious IRL connection and they just aren’t picking up on hints, feel free to outsource your rejection to Ghostbot.
But there’s a hidden bonus to Ghostbot: It’s an excellent tutorial for how to let people down easy, all on your own. Using Ghostbot responses like, “I’m so busy right now, I’ll let you know when I’m free,” or “Crazy stressed, I need some time on my own right now” are both pretty effective. No matter how you choose to end a relationship, just bear in mind that there’s another person behind those texts. Unless that other person is using Ghostbot on you? Who knows! Modern dating is getting complicated.
Good luck out there, guys.
What do you think of the ghosting bot? Let us know @BritandCo!
(h/t The Verge, photo via Getty)