This article only represents the author's own views.

Could a dating approach used by the fictional Cyrano de Bergerac finally halt the revenue slide that has plagued dating app operator Hello Group Inc. (MOMO.US) for the last five years? It was hard to tell in the company’s latest financial report released this week, which showed the its revenue continued to fall in the second quarter, extending a long string of declines dating back to 2020.

But officials said they were encouraged by some early results for a recently added AI-backed approach in the company’s core Momo app, similar to the type of date coaching provided by Cyrano de Bergerac in the famous nineteenth century French play. The approach, rolled out in the second quarter, uses an “AI greeting feature” to help male users generate personalized greetings for their potential dates when using the app.