Bay Area startup reinvents dating apps with AI chatbot to automate matchmaking, plan dates

They say artificial intelligence is coming after everyone's job. Apparently, that includes Cupid.

For Owen Krause, a 22-year-old Oregon State University student interning in San Francisco, the age-old search for connection has taken a high-tech turn.

"The swiping thing is kind of a problem. I read a statistic that says guys are 10 times more likely to swipe than girls, so, it kind of feels like you're in a race or a competition," he said.

Enter Ditto, a new Bay Area startup for college students that eliminates swiping altogether. Users chat with an AI chatbot about what they're looking for, and Ditto handles the rest.

Every Wednesday at 7 p.m., a text arrives with a match and a fully planned itinerary. All you have to do is show up.

Which is how, on a Friday evening in Japantown, Krause found himself meeting Angella Ferrer.

"She seemed pretty interesting," he said. "She has pretty good style."

Ditto cofounder Allen Wang says Gen Z is ready for an alternative to endless swiping. According to Wang, more than 160,000 students have already signed up, generating more than 80,000 dates. 

While some critics might argue that putting an algorithm in charge of matchmaking takes some of the romance out of love, Wang sees it differently.

"I think the most romantic part of human connection is meeting in person. I would say we're actually trying to push people to experience faster," he said.

Which brings us back to Owen and Angella, and whether the algorithm could deliver once the phones were put away.

"Honestly, better than I expected," Krause said.

Ferrer seemed pleasantly surprised, too.

"He's very shy, but I low-key like that," she said.

Ditto is currently free, but the company says it eventually plans to charge a subscription fee.