chatfishing

“Now, though, ‘chatfishing,’ a new wave of online deception, is taking over dating apps,” Scientific American (opens in a new window) reported in October 2025. “Instead of ‘catfishing’—using an entirely fake identity—people are using artificial intelligence to help them chat up prospective love interests and secure dates.” Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new window) entered it 3 months later: “using AI tools to write messages to other people on dating apps.”

The market sells it as relief. One assistant’s marketing, the same article reported, claims that it “puts your texting on cruise control,” and a survey by Match and the Kinsey Institute found that “26 percent of U.S. singles said they use AI to enhance dating—a 333 percent jump from the year before.” Norton found (opens in a new window) that “Three fifths (60%) of current online daters believe they’ve had a conversation with someone on a dating app that was written by AI.” In Match’s own survey, 36 percent (opens in a new window) called using AI for “conversation generation” a dealbreaker.

Under load, the figures do not reconcile. A quarter report using it, three fifths report receiving it, and a third would end a match over it. Each side takes its own messages as edited and the other’s as drafted. The first date is where the drafts meet their author, and whatever was written on cruise control has to be said again by hand.