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This event is part of the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition 2026.

Dating apps translate the messy world of love, lust, sex and desire into machine-readable lists of categories and classifications.

We now have many categories to describe who we are and what we want – from ‘twunk’ to ‘butch’, ‘heteroflexible’ to ‘asexual’! Yet this proliferation of categories also changes how we think of ourselves and relate to others.

, Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the Gender & Sexuality Data Lab, takes us behind-the-screens to show us the intersections where technology meets sexuality. He asks whether dating apps offer an accurate representation of who we are or tell us who and how to desire.

Attending the event

This event will be held in Theatre 1 at the Royal Society on Friday 3 July 2026, 6.50pm – 7.10pm.

• Free to attend as part of Summer Science Exhibition on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to seat availability. We recommend that visitors arrive 10-15 minutes before the session
• Eventbrite tickets for Summer Science Exhibition are recommended, with only a limited number of walk-up tickets released on the day
• This event is part of our adults-only (18+) Taking Pride in Science evening
• This talk will take place in person
• A recording of this talk will be available later on the
• Live subtitles will be available
• Travel and accessibility information and details on planning your visit - contact us directly to arrange any specific accessibility requirements
• Food and drink will be available for purchase at our onsite café

For all enquiries, please email us.