An excellent episode of Black Mirror predicted a future where our dating lives were simulated to find the perfect match. That future might already be here. It’s entirely plausible that by swiping left or right on apps like Bumble and Tinder, we are unwittingly the test subjects in the largest relationship study in human history.

Artificial Intelligence, at its core, is about probability. To make accurate predictions, an AI requires access to a vast dataset from which it can derive patterns. Dating apps are a data goldmine. They have access to a staggering range of data points on each of us, from our photos and bios to our private messages and the subtle ways we interact with their platform. They are constantly quantifying our personalities.

Online dating is nothing new. A decade ago, sites like Match.com would boast about the number of marriages they created. But that was just the beginning. The ambition of modern dating apps is far greater than just making introductions.

Here’s my theory: modern dating apps are playing the long game. They are quietly building an algorithm that turns “love” into bits and bytes. It’s plausible they are harvesting publicly available data on marriages and divorces and cross-referencing it with their internal user data. Using this predictive model, every user becomes a lifelong contributor to an ever-learning dataset, whether their relationships succeed or fail.

An app that can survive for a generation, tracking users from their first swipe to their wedding day and beyond, will have the data to potentially crack the code of human connection. They will have the data points that dictate which personalities and traits, when combined, lead to successful, long-term partnerships.

They will have solved the algorithm for love. And all we had to do was say “I do” to their terms and conditions.