SXSW 2015: 'Stop The Robots' Was Publicity Stunt For Dating App That Hopes To Rival Tinder

AUSTIN, Texas -- In the world of online dating, hordes of users have turned to Tinder to meet attractive dates or relied on OkCupid to find someone its algorithm deems compatible. Now there's another option: Quiver, a dating app that relies on humans to create matches -- which made a splash at South by Southwest with its “Stop The Robot” protest.

On Quiver, humans help by matching up people they think would be good fits, said Adam Williams, an engineer for TenthBit, Quiver’s software developer at the SXSW event this week. At the same time, users also get matched by others who use the app, and as a user creates more and more successful matches, they unlock achievements. The app is currently available only for Apple devices.

Since the idea behind Quiver is to rely on users rather than artificial intelligence, TenthBit held a fake protest Saturday outside the Austin Convention Center to highlight the dangers of tech -- and get some good PR, of course. The demonstration featured a handful of people gathered with signs bearing phrases like "Robots won't care," "Stop the AI threat" and "Humans are the future." They wore shirts promoting Stop The Robots, supposedly an organization (but actually just a website) raising awareness about the dangers that artificial intelligence, robots and technology in general pose to humans.

"We thought it would be fun to stage a little protest for South By and talk about some real concerns that we have and raise awareness about the little product that we're building," Williams told International Business Times.

SXSW is no stranger to publicity stunts. This year alone, others at the festival included a sci-fi film using a fake Tinder profile to promote its premiere and a group of hooded hackers used to promote a food truck.