AI, Dating & Romantic Relationships
A UC Berkeley School of Information capstone studying when AI features in dating apps appeal to Gen Z college students who are burned out on swiping.
Our UC Berkeley School of Information capstone project, 2026.
About this project
Gen Z college students are leaving dating apps in record numbers, while AI features are being added to those same apps at unprecedented rates. Our team studied where those two trends meet: when, if ever, AI in a dating app actually appeals to the students who have grown tired of it.
The guiding research question was: under what conditions do AI integrations in dating apps attract Gen Z college students whose disengagement stems from swipe fatigue, perceived inauthenticity, and a desire for authentic connection?
How we studied it
We used a mixed-methods design. We ran semi-structured interviews (n=20) to understand why students disengage, a vignette experiment (n=45 across twelve decision scenarios) to test how different AI features changed their choices, and open-ended reflections (n=29) to hear the reasoning behind those choices in their own words.
What we found
Acceptance tracked how directly each feature relieved the reasons students leave. We mapped each scenario to one of the three exit factors. AI-curated matching, aimed at swipe fatigue and the paradox of choice, had the highest baseline acceptance at 80%, because it takes on the endless swiping and overload of options that wear people out. AI-assembled group meetups, aimed at the desire for organic connection, followed at 67%, since they move dating toward real, in-person settings. AI conversation coaching trailed at 49%, because it runs into the authenticity concern: students were wary of AI writing their messages, which can feel like the inauthenticity that pushed them off the apps in the first place.
Team & resources
The project was completed by Andrew Akuaku, Nseke Ngilbus, and Yunkai Li, advised by Morgan Ames and Deirdre Mulligan.