Match Group: Nearly half of U.S. singles oppose AI in dating

Match Group ran a survey of 1,000 U.S. singles aged 18 to 39 and found 47% hold a negative view of AI's use in romantic contexts. The study measured attitudes toward a range of new AI features dating apps have started adding, from profile help to AI companion apps.

How did Match measure singles' views on AI in dating?

Match ran a survey of 1,000 people aged 18 to 39 to gauge attitudes toward emerging AI features in dating. The company asked about specific use cases such as AI companion apps, profile and messaging assistance, and whether respondents would accept AI as part of a romantic life.

The headline figure from that survey is 47% of singles saying they have a negative view of AI in romantic contexts. The survey also found 64% of respondents could see how AI might help them in their dating journey, showing more nuanced opinions depending on the feature in question.

How do attitudes change by use case and demographics?

Attitudes vary strongly by use case and age: 40% of singles said they would refuse to date someone who uses an AI companion app, and that refusal rate rises to 51% for women ages 18 to 24. By contrast, only 12% of 18- to 24-year-olds said they had used a companion app over the last three months, and about a third of those users said they were seeking genuine connections with those chatbots.

Match frames these numbers as a distinction between utility and intimacy: many people will accept AI for tactical help — improving photos, drafting messages, keeping conversations going — but resist AI where it replaces the human-to-human relationship. That split is visible in the pair of figures 64% seeing AI as potentially helpful and 47% expressing a negative view of AI in romantic contexts.

The survey also sits against action across the industry: Bumble introduced a dating assistant named Bee, Tinder has invested heavily in AI tools to the point that its spending has slowed hiring, and Hinge's CEO stepped down last year to launch a more AI-focused dating app. Those developments show apps are experimenting with AI even as a substantial share of users push back.

Why does this matter?

The survey suggests product teams should be selective with AI features. Users expect AI to handle tactical tasks while human connection remains off-limits. Match summarized that preference bluntly: "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." Developers who ignore that line risk eroding trust and prompting user backlash, especially among younger women who show the highest refusal rate for AI companions.

The numbers also matter commercially: 12% usage among 18- to 24-year-olds sets a baseline for companion app adoption, while 64% openness to helpful AI suggests sizable demand for augmentation features that do not impersonate people.

What to watch

Track whether companion app usage climbs above the current 12% baseline among 18- to 24-year-olds and whether product teams explicitly label or limit AI involvement in conversations. Also watch for how companies respond to Match's user guidance: will dating apps double down on profile and messaging assistance while avoiding features that create persistent, personlike AI companions?