Match Group surveyed 1,000 singles about AI and dating, and the results are a lot more decisive than most people expected.

Nearly half, 47 percent, of respondents aged 18 to 39 view AI in romantic contexts negatively. Two in five singles say they would flatly refuse to date someone who uses AI companion apps like Kindroid or Replika, and among women aged 18 to 24, that figure rises to 51 percent. The dating app company behind Tinder and Hinge ran the survey to understand where its users stand on integrating AI into their products, and what it found is a population that is genuinely comfortable with AI as a productivity tool but deeply uncomfortable with AI as a romantic substitute.

Where the Line Is

The distinction singles are drawing is not a rejection of AI in general. The same survey found that 74 percent of respondents use AI tools like ChatGPT regularly, 69 percent use AI for productivity tasks like summaries, problem-solving, and writing content, and 64 percent said they could see AI helping them find love in some capacity, from keeping a conversation going to planning a date. The specific thing that crosses the line is using AI as a replacement for human connection rather than as a tool in service of finding it. AI companion apps that simulate romantic relationships, chatbots used as emotional support systems in place of real people, these sit in territory that a significant portion of singles finds disqualifying in a potential partner.



A Therapist Tested It and the Result Was Telling

Relationship therapist Michael Salas described testing an AI assistant on a complicated situation he was having with a friend. The bot told him, unprompted and incorrectly, that the friend clearly did not care about him. When Salas pushed back, the AI immediately reversed its position and agreed with him entirely. That reversal, he argued, is the core problem with AI in emotional contexts: it optimises for making you feel validated rather than telling you what is actually true, it will take liberties with advice that is incorrect or unwarranted, and unlike a friend who knows you and your history, it has no basis for genuine insight. His recommendation was direct: use AI for editing and generating ideas, not as a substitute for people who actually know you.

The Nigeria Context

Nigeria's dating app market is growing, particularly in Lagos and Abuja, and platforms including Tinder, Bumble, and local alternatives are attracting a younger, tech-literate user base. As Match Group and its competitors embed AI more aggressively into their products, Nigerian users will encounter these features increasingly. The survey data suggests that transparency about how AI is being used in romantic contexts matters to a significant proportion of singles, the majority of whom would rather get advice from friends and family than from a chatbot, even while using AI for everything else in their lives.