Nearly Half of Singles View AI in Dating Negatively, Match Group Survey Reveals

Almost half of U.S. singles feel negatively about AI in dating, Match says

Dating app giant Match Group -- which owns apps like Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid -- conducted a study to determine how U.S. singles really feel about the relationship between AI and dating. Turns out, people don't want AI messing with every aspect of human life. Across the industry, dating apps are experimenting with AI. Bumble introduced a dating assistant named Bee, and Tinder is spending so much on AI tools that it's slowed its hiring process. Meanwhile, Hinge's CEO stepped down last year to launch a more AI-focused dating app altogether. But according to Match's survey of 1,000 people aged 18 to 39, 47% of singles have a negative view of AI's use in romantic contexts. This perspective varies depending on what the AI is being used for. About 40% of singles say they would refuse to date someone who uses an AI companion app, and that figure rises to 51% among women ages 18 to 24. However, only 12% of 18- to 24-year-olds said that they had used a companion app over the last three months, and only about a third of those users said they were seeking genuine connections with those chatbots. While Match says that people harbor a "near-universal" disapproval of actually dating an AI, like in the movie "Her," that doesn't mean that respondents are wholly opposed to AI features within apps. Some 64% of respondents said they could see how AI might help them in their dating journey. If we're being pedantic, technically, every major dating app has already used some form of matching algorithm since before we knew what a GPT was. This survey refers to the new crop of AI features that basically every app is introducing, which help users punch up their profiles, choose photos, and keep conversations flowing. What dating app developers should take away from this survey is that people are not entirely closed off to AI; they just don't want to be in a relationship with a robot, nor do they want to feel as though their dating experiences are overly inundated with technology that feels inauthentic. "Ask singles what they want from AI in dating, and the answer is pretty consistent: help with the hard parts, but hands off for the human parts," Match wrote in a blog post. "Yes, they'll use it to help them punch up a profile or for help figuring out what to say when a conversation goes quiet, but the actual connection is still theirs to create." Hopefully, this message reaches dating entrepreneurs like Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, who suggested that dating app users could have personal bots that date other users' bots. It's pretty normal nowadays to say you met your partner online, but "his bot asked my bot out, and our bots hit it off" will never be a socially acceptable meet-cute.

Using AI Companion Apps Gives Many Singles the Ick, Survey Finds

Dashia is the consumer insights editor for CNET. She specializes in data-driven analysis and news at the intersection of tech, personal finance and consumer sentiment. Dashia investigates economic shifts and everyday challenges to help readers make well-informed decisions, and she covers a range of topics, including technology, security, energy and money. Dashia graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She loves baking, teaching spinning and spending time with her family. Most singles looking for love aren't interested in building a romantic connection with an AI chatbot. A new study from Match Group, the dating company behind popular dating apps like Tinder and Hinge, found that nearly half (47%) of the roughly 1,000 people ages 18-39 it surveyed "view AI in romantic contexts negatively." And it's a hard pass for most singles if you're interested in AI companion apps, like Kindroid and Replika. Two in five singles aged 18 to 39 refuse to date someone who uses these apps, including over half (51%) of women aged 18 to 24, according to Match Group's findings. Finding love with AI can be tricky, whether you're using AI to keep you from saying the wrong thing to a new connection, spruce up your dating profile or act as your soulmate to help you practice for the big moment (which we don't advise, more on which below). Despite all the ways you can use AI on the dating scene, singles have some serious concerns. Most singles in the survey said they use AI for everyday productivity tasks, but when it comes to dating, the bots can't tag along for the ride. Most want purely human connections. Most singles don't want someone interested in an AI companion AI is creeping into personal relationships more than in the past. Imagine going to ChatGPT to decide who is right in an argument with your spouse. Or even dating a bot. It's not far-fetched when there are AI apps that resemble personal relationships. Some even have avatars. The Match Group survey found that dating an AI bot is a no-go for singles -- 4 to 1 opposed. The survey found that only 12% of singles have tried companion apps in the past three months -- mainly to try something new, not as a substitute for finding love. Most used them for boredom and entertainment (45%), and roleplay and simulation (43%). Fewer used AI to build a genuine connection (38%) or process emotions (26%). Instead of relying on bots, singles are getting advice from friends and family (60% respectively), whereas only 20% are using AI. That's not surprising, considering a study published in March in the journal Science found AI is more likely to agree with you and less likely to help with things like repairing relationships. The study shows you may depend on AI more instead. Michael Salas, a relationship therapist, agrees that seeking advice from family and friends rather than AI is a better move. Salas tested using AI on a complicated situation he was having with a friend, and the bot's response may surprise you. "It told me this friend clearly didn't care about me. Verbatim, it told me this," says Salas. "This wasn't something I was even questioning, and I know it was wrong. When I told it that, it immediately course-corrected, told me I was right, and shifted to a new framework. That's not wisdom." Salas advises being careful when using AI in dating. "I think you really have to be careful because it will take liberties and give advice that is incorrect or unwarranted. Save that for actual people who know you. Ask them instead." Instead, Salas recommends using AI for editing and generating ideas, like ways to show someone you care -- not as a substitute for humans. Using AI for dating has limitations Match found that most (74%) singles ages 18 to 39 use AI tools, such as ChatGPT, regularly. And 69% use AI for productivity tasks like summaries, problem solving and writing content. Most find their use of AI positive across several use cases. But not when it comes to finding love. There are some exceptions. Over half (64%) can see AI helping them find love, like helping keep a conversation going and building a stronger profile (27%), starting a conversation (26%) and planning a date (27%). Some AI features already lean toward those preferences, like Tinder's AI-powered matching to get connection suggestions based on your interests and camera roll (if you allow it). And there are date-planning apps, like the Date Idea Generator and My Spicy Vanilla. And Hinge debuted Convo Starters to ease the pressure of sending the first message. It all still boils down to how comfortable singles feel about using AI to help with matchmaking. Based on Match Group's survey findings, the percentage using AI assistance remains below half across many use cases, making it clear that most people don't want bots meddling in their love lives. It'll be interesting to see how Match Group alters or creates AI features for its dating apps in the future based on these findings and how singles respond. Match Group didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment.

AI chatbots hit the dating scene, becoming the lovelorn's modern-day Cyrano

Marie Lansley recently started a new job in a new city while searching for a new partner. In her dating pursuits, the freshly minted San Franciscan said she's been "trying everything" -- including some help from artificial intelligence. AI chatbots have become -- for her and many others -- de facto dating coaches and relationship experts. Lansley, 36, consults AI chatbots for help in starting conversations, something she said she finds difficult on dating apps despite being comfortable doing so in person. Although she's optimistic about the possibilities, she acknowledges the incongruency between the art of romance and the precision of technology. "I am open to AI finding me the love of my life, but I'm also not fully convinced that it can," Lansley said. "AI is great at making dating more efficient. But the chemistry -- that's always going to be analog." AI adopters have been using the tech in varied ways to find romance. Some patronize AI matchmaking services. Others use AI tools to help build their dating profiles. But the most common way is enlisting chatbots to draft messages to potential matches and interpret messages they receive. Lansley goes back and forth between OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude. Others turn to Elon Musk and X's Grok, Google's Gemini and other chatbots. Dating apps and AI companies are leaning into it. ChatGPT and Gemini have posted content on TikTok showcasing their chatbots' customized, personality-laden relationship advice. "Claude is the new Cyrano," said dating coach Carey Gaynes, referencing the 19th century French play "Cyrano de Bergerac" in which the titular character is the brains behind another man's romantic words. "You're using a voice that isn't yours." Gaynes said she has heard of daters of all ages turning to the technology, both from her client base and her following on her YouTube channel, Coffee with Carey. She sees how it could be useful in dating, but like many others, she worries about overreliance. Like the platitude used to describe many a modern dating arrangement, it's complicated when it comes to people's feelings about AI's role in romance. There's a range of excitement, resistance and skepticism. AI is writing icebreakers, offering advice and matchmaking Lansley said she has been startled by how chatbots can appear to display emotional intelligence. When doing an onboarding call with the AI matchmaker on the app Known, she said the questions the bot asked went "one or two levels deeper" than traditional dating app questions and it seemed to be striving for empathy. It doesn't necessarily lead to better results -- her first match was not a perfect fit. Mason Naung, a 25-year-old student in Los Angeles, said he doesn't use chatbots for message ideas, but could see the benefit of it for "icebreakers" during the early back-and-forth with someone. "I've been on Hinge on and off for a year or two, and sometimes I kind of struggle to think about what the opening line should be like with this girl, right?" he said. But if the AI-written messages go beyond those initial exchanges, that would be a "small red flag" in his mind. Just as chatbots can help start conversations, they also can help end things. Dani Cohen, a 27-year-old business owner in San Diego, said she would much rather be sent an AI-written farewell message by someone she's been on a few dates with than be "ghosted," or cut off without a word. "Obviously, in a perfect world, everyone knows exactly what they want to say and how to say it in the kindest way possible and they do that. That's not the world we live in," she said. "Anything to get people to communicate, and to communicate their thoughts kindly and effectively, is great." Skepticism persists on 'outsourcing' love life Several people who spoke with The Associated Press, including those who have turned to AI for dating help, expressed reservations about using the technology to help with deeply personal aspects of their life. Many adopters said they had a line they wouldn't cross when it would be inappropriate to use AI for dating. Others couldn't dream of turning to a chatbot for help with their love life at all. Clara Sullivan, a 22-year-old student in Los Angeles, said she would not reply to a potential partner if she knew they were sending her AI-written messages. "I think it's really scary how reliant people are on it," Sullivan said. "It's completely gotten rid of people's ability to think creatively and on their own." Many feel the same way. A 2025 survey from the Pew Research Center found 53% of U.S. adults say AI will worsen people's ability to think creatively. Half of those polled said they feel AI will worsen people's ability to form meaningful relationships. Still, the marriage of AI with the highly lucrative dating industry was likely inescapable. Many dating apps have been integrating AI into their platforms for years. Tinder has an AI-powered feature called Chemistry that suggests profiles tailored to a user's interests. Hinge has AI-powered conversation starters and feedback tools to help build users' profiles and make interactions smooth. The founder of the app Bumble recently said the platform will soon ditch the well-known swipe feature, instead pivoting toward AI-driven matchmaking. After facing some backlash to the decision, Bumble CEO and founder Whitney Wolfe Herd wrote in a statement that said what they're building "is rooted in a simple belief: technology should make love and connection feel more human, not less." Some see tradeoffs to AI's role in romance Mohammed Nizami, 23, said he turns to AI for some things in his life, but not his dating pursuits. "We're all craving for some degree of authentic connection. Certainly with your partner, you want that," he said. "If there's some filter or barrier between you and your partner or potential partner, I think that's just not a great way to start a relationship." Nizami said chatbots may not even provide the best guidance. The sycophantic nature of many chatbots, he said, might be "good for your own mental comfort" but does not necessarily lead to the soundest advice. AI is likely going to play a growing role in modern dating life, despite the hesitations. "It's kind of a sad commentary on the state of the world. Dating is supposed to be one of the things that cannot be replaced, right?" said Jake Clay, a 30-year-old content creator in New York City. "It's kind of sad to think that something so pivotal to your life journey is being outsourced to an AI who can't understand the emotions around it." Clay did say he's been receiving fewer texts from friends asking him to decode a message from potential partners, as they now turn to chatbots. Clay wryly said he appreciates AI "lifting the load" there but also called the situation a "Catch-22" since it's "circumventing some of the normal processes in life that I feel like should be a little bit more sacred."

Companion AI use is a dating dealbreaker, Match survey says

Some singles, especially young women, see dating an AI bot as a red flag, new findings suggest. A new survey from Match Group, the dating app conglomerate that owns Tinder, Hinge, and other apps, found that 47 percent view AI in romantic contexts negatively. Two in five singles aged 18 to 39 say they'd refuse to date someone who uses an AI companion app -- and that number jumps to 51 percent for women aged 18 to 24. Twelve percent of 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed reported using a companion AI app in the past three months. Of those, the biggest reason why was boredom and entertainment (45 percent), followed by 43 percent for roleplay and simulation. Some, 38 percent, did use it to build a "genuine connection," and 26 percent used it to process their emotions. Match found that when singles are using AI, it's mostly for practical tasks. Nearly 75 percent of singles aged 18 to 39 use tools like ChatGPT regularly, and 69 percent rely on it mainly for productivity. Only 20 percent of respondents (approximately 1,000 U.S. singles aged 18 to 39 were surveyed between April 13 and May 8, 2026), use AI for personal advice. That's only two percent less than the 22 percent of singles who go to a professional therapist for this. The majority, 60 percent, go to friends, and the same amount goes to family as well. Despite the disdain for companion apps, though, 64 percent believe AI can help them date, such as keep a conversation going (27 percent), build a strong profile (27 percent), start a conversation (26 percent), or plan a date (24 percent). The findings are similar to what Match Group property, Hinge, found in its Nov. 2025 report that Gen Z daters use AI tools to initiate and continue conversations. It seems that when it comes to dating humans, singles -- at least young adults -- don't see an issue with using AI to chat and plan for them. Major Match Group apps like Tinder and Hinge have added more and more AI features in the past few years, with others like Bumble doing the same as well. But Bumble recently faced online backlash after announcing it's killing the swipe and likely replacing it with a more AI-driven experience.

Daters say AI dependence gives them the ick

There's a new reason to avoid buddying up to ChatGPT, at least if you're single: Daters find it deeply unattractive. In a recent survey of 3,500 Gen Z and Millennial daters in the U.S., the dating app Hily found that using AI is, quite simply, not a flex. In fact, it's a major turnoff when it comes to romance and potential partnership. Younger daters are especially likely to view AI reliance as a red flag. While 56% of Millennial respondents said they wouldn't date someone who uses AI regularly, that figure rose to 64% among Gen Z. More than half of Gen Z daters surveyed said they'd consider it a dealbreaker if someone used AI for career advice or spending decisions, compared with 46% and 44% of Millennials, respectively.