AI matchmaking app aims to replace real-world dating for college students

A new startup called Ditto is using artificial intelligence instead of self-swiping dating apps to pair college students with real-world dates.

Founded in 2024 by UC Berkeley dropouts, the company, based in Northern California, asks users to complete an in-depth questionnaire before its AI analyzes personalities, interests, schedules, and preferences to create weekly matches. Every Wednesday, the platform generates new couples, coordinates a time that works for both participants, and even creates a personalized itinerary for the date.

The company markets itself as an alternative to traditional dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble and Hinge, arguing that swipe-based dating has become superficial and ineffective. "For the past 20 years, we've connected in primitive ways," Ditto says on its website. "But now... AI brings your profiles to life as agents." The company says it has already arranged more than 12,000 dates across college campuses nationwide, claiming that 92% of participants wanted a second date after meeting. Over a quarter of surveyed singles are using artificial intelligence to enhance their dating lives, a whopping 333 percent increase from 2024. Ditto has expanded to campuses across the country, including nine universities throughout California.

“People are trapped in [dating apps] instead of going out there and actually contacting in real life, personal connections,” Allen Wang, who co-founded Ditto, said. “Why can’t AI mimic and basically replace all the back and forth, all the swiping and the small talk and all that?”

The app arrives as concerns about loneliness among young Americans continue to grow. In 2023, then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared loneliness a national "epidemic," warning that social isolation carries serious physical and mental health consequences comparable to other major public health issues. New data suggests that between 16% and 28% of surveyed American adults have engaged in intimate or romantic relationships with AI chatbots. Additionally, roughly 15% of married, engaged, or dating young adults regularly use AI as a committed romantic partner, with over half hiding these relationships from their real-life partners.