"Annie Bot" and "Loneliness & Company," Reviewed

Last month, a new dating app called Volar launched in New York City, with the promise "We go on blind dates. So you don't have to." To sign up, you enter your name and phone number, then submit yourself to a brief interview with a chatbot matchmaker. When I made an account, Volar's bot asked what line of work I was in. "I'm a book critic," I replied.