Singles embrace AI for dating profiles, but reject AI companions

AI has moved into dating, but many singles are drawing a sharp line between assistance and intimacy. Match Group’s latest Singles in America findings show a market that is comfortable with AI as a backstage tool and wary of it as a stand-in for human connection.

The survey of about 1,000 U.S. singles ages 18 to 39 found that 47% viewed AI negatively in romantic contexts. Even so, 74% said they use ChatGPT, and 64% said AI helps them create a stronger dating profile, keep conversations going, or start a conversation. The split captures the core tension now shaping app-based romance: singles will accept help with the hard parts, but many still want the human parts to stay human.

That boundary was clearest around AI companions. Match said 40% of respondents would refuse to date someone who uses an AI companion app, and the resistance rose to 51% among women ages 18 to 24. That suggests younger women, in particular, are setting the strictest limits on what counts as acceptable digital assistance in dating.

The findings land as dating apps across the industry keep adding AI tools. Bumble has introduced its dating assistant, Bee, and Tinder has also invested in AI features. Match has framed the trend as a practical one, with AI handling “the hard parts” while people keep “the human parts” for themselves. That distinction appears to be the line most users understand, and the one most are unwilling to cross.

Match’s broader Singles in America study, now in its 14th year, has surveyed more than 75,000 people across the United States since 2010. Its 2025 edition found that 26% of singles were using AI to enhance their dating lives, a 333% increase from the year before. That same survey found 44% wanted AI to help filter matches and 40% wanted help crafting a dating profile, evidence that the appetite for algorithmic coaching is growing fast.

Earlier research from Match and The Kinsey Institute found the behavior was still emerging in 2024, when just 6% of all single people and 14% of online daters said they had experimented with AI to boost their dating lives. Among those users, 43% said they used AI to write dating profiles and 37% used it to help write a first message.

Broader public opinion helps explain the caution. Pew Research Center’s June 2026 survey found that among U.S. adults who use chatbots, only 10% use them for emotional support and 4% for companionship. The message from the data is clear: AI may be welcome as a coach, but not as a lover.