J.D. Vance warned that dating apps may harm young Americans’ ability to build real relationships, marry, and raise families.
Vice President J.D. Vance warns of a growing crisis: declining dating and family formation among American youth.
In a recent interview with The New York Times published on May 21, Vance voiced concerns about artificial intelligence.
He focused on its potentially harmful impact on young people, especially regarding their relationships and romantic lives.
While economic consequences of AI are often discussed, Vance highlighted social and emotional repercussions.
He argued that dating apps and new technology may be fueling youth disconnection more than people realize.
J.D. Vance reveals the reason Americans should never use ‘destructive’ dating apps
Vance, 40, suggested that dating apps are undermining traditional courtship.
“Dating apps are probably more destructive than we fully appreciate,” he said.
He believes that communication between the sexes has become more strained, partly due to these platforms.
“If you look at basic dating behavior among young people — and I think a lot of this is that the dating apps are probably more destructive than we fully appreciate,” Vance said.
“I think part of it is technology has just for some reason made it harder for young men and young women to communicate with each other in the same way.”
His concern is that if young adults aren’t dating, they’re unlikely to marry or start families.
He believes this could lead to serious long-term demographic and cultural consequences.
“Our young men and women just aren’t dating, and if they’re not dating, they’re not getting married, they’re not starting families.”
Pronatalism message ties into broader cultural agenda
This isn’t the first time Vance has spoken out about the importance of family and reproduction.
During the 2024 campaign, he promoted pronatalist policies encouraging more births and stronger American families.
“We need more babies in the United States of America,” he said on the campaign trail.
He has emphasized the importance of young, “beautiful” Americans in shaping the next generation.
This reflects long-held conservative values on family and traditional relationships.
His latest remarks warn that technology-driven isolation threatens the foundation of American society, the family.
J.D. Vance believes that AI may replace emotional human connection
Vance’s concern with AI isn’t limited to dating apps.
He warns that AI’s growing emotional immersion might replace genuine human interactions entirely.
He fears this could cause teenagers to form shallow, emotionally empty relationships with chatbots.
“There’s a level of isolation, I think, mediated through technology, that technology can be a bit of a salve. It can be a bit of a Band-Aid. Maybe it makes you feel less lonely, even when you are lonely.
But this is where I think AI could be profoundly dark and negative,” Vance also said in his interview with the Times on Wednesday.
“But what I do really worry about is does it mean that there are millions of American teenagers talking to chatbots who don’t have their best interests at heart?” he continued.
“Or even if they do have their best interests at heart, they start to develop a relationship, they start to expect a chatbot that’s trying to give a dopamine rush,
and, you know, compared to a chatbot, a normal human interaction is not going to be as satisfying, because human beings have wants and needs.”
Concerns shared with the new Pope in Rome
Vance’s perspective has even reached religious circles.
During his recent visit to Rome for Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass on May 18, Vance met with the newly elected pope.
He used the opportunity to share his concerns about online dating and AI.
The Pope himself has expressed worries about the rise of artificial intelligence and its role in the “new industrial revolution.”