Most single people looking for love aren’t interested in starting a romantic relationship. AI chatbot.
New research from Match Group, the dating company behind popular dating apps like crater Hinge found that of the nearly 1,000 people aged 18 to 39 surveyed, nearly half (47%) “view AI in romantic contexts negatively.” And if you’re interested in AI companion apps like Kindroid or Replika, that’s difficult for most singles. According to Match Group research, two in five singles aged 18-39 have refused to date someone who uses these apps, including more than half (51%) of women aged 18-24.
Using AI to find love can be difficult, whether you’re using it to avoid saying the wrong thing to a new connection, sprucing up your dating profile, or acting as a soulmate to practice for the big moment (we don’t recommend this, more on that later).
Despite the many ways AI can be leveraged in the dating scene, singles have some serious concerns. Most singles surveyed said they use AI for everyday productivity tasks, but when it comes to dating, bots can’t get their act together. Most people want a purely human connection.
Most single people don’t want an AI companion to be interested in them
AI is infiltrating more personal relationships than ever before. Imagine going to ChatGPT to decide who is right in an argument with your spouse. Or you can date a bot. It’s not so far-fetched that there would be AI apps that resemble personal relationships. Some people have avatars.
Match Group research shows that dating an AI bot is a no-no for single people, with four to one against it. Research shows that only 12% of singles have tried a companion app in the past three months, primarily to try something new and not as a substitute for finding love. Most used it for boredom and entertainment (45%) and role play and simulation (43%). Fewer people are using AI to build authentic connections (38%) and process emotions (26%).
Singles are taking advice from friends and family (60% each) rather than relying on bots, but only 20% are using AI. This isn’t surprising, considering a study published in Science in March found that AI is more likely to agree with you and less likely to help with things like repairing relationships. This study suggests we may rely more on AI instead.
Relationship therapist Michael Salas agrees that asking family and friends for advice is a better option than AI. Salas used AI to test a complicated situation he was having with a friend, and you might be surprised by the bot’s response.
“I could see that this friend obviously didn’t care about me, and that’s what I was told verbatim,” Salas says. “This wasn’t something I ever questioned, and I know it was wrong. When I told them that, they quickly corrected themselves, said I was right, and moved on to a new framework. That’s not wisdom.”
Salas advises caution when using AI in dating. “I think you have to be really careful because that takes away freedom and gives you inaccurate or unwarranted advice. Save that for real people who know you and ask them instead.” Salas instead recommends using AI to edit and generate ideas, such as how to show someone you care, not as a replacement for a human.
There are limits to using AI for dating.
Match found that most singles (74%) between the ages of 18 and 39 use AI tools such as: Chat GPTregularly. And 69% use AI for productivity tasks such as: summary, problem solving and write content. Most companies see the use of AI as positive across several use cases. But that’s not the case when it comes to finding love.
There are some exceptions. More than half (64%) feel that AI helps them find love, including continuing conversations and building a stronger profile (27%), starting conversations (26%), and planning dates (27%). Some AI features already lean toward these preferences, such as Tinder’s AI-powered matching, which gets connection suggestions based on your interests and camera roll (if allowed). There are also date planning apps like Date Idea Generator and My Spicy Vanilla. And Hinge debuted Convo Starters to take the pressure off sending your first message.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to how happy singles are with using AI to help them match. According to Match Group research, the use of AI assistance remains less than half of the time in many use cases, making it clear that most people don’t want bots intruding on their love lives.
Based on these findings and how singles respond, it will be interesting to see how Match Group changes or creates AI features for its dating app in the future. Match Group did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
