Online daters are using AI to fake everything from chats to photosDating app users are now facing a new form of deception, creating impossible expectations that crumble on actual dates.Alice Fahrer4 min readJanuary 4, 2026 - 4:24PMIt wasn’t a bad date, it was just… average minus? Tom* was clean, polite, and said nothing that sent me running for the hills, but the night fell totally flat after a week of messaging on Hinge. Where was the flirty banter that had made me check my phone an embarrassing number of times?Over three glasses of wine he stumbled through small talk, and seemed to completely crumble trying to answer basic questions. It felt like I was sharing arancini with a complete stranger. I’d tried to carry on the same playful rhythm we’d had online, but it was clear that this bloke knew absolutely nothing about me. That’s when I realised I’d probably been flirting with ChatGPT.Welcome to the world of ‘chatfishing’, the latest trend in online dating quietly eroding the last shred of trust we had left in dating apps.It isn’t just that men are using AI to flirt with you over Tinder now, although that is bad enough; they’re also using it to create slightly better versions of themselves. You will now meet a man from a dating app who is the Temu version of man in the photos he has on his dating profile. It is something I am increasingly seeing more of. Let me introduce you to Mitch*. Scrolling through his Bumble profile something just felt off.It wasn’t immediately obvious what made my spidey-senses tingle - he was decently good looking, broad and tanned, working in corporate Sydney and spent his weekends on the water.But getting to his fourth photo, the issue became clear - literally. His other pics had a glossy, blurry quality, but this one was in sharp focus. His hair wasn’t as thick, his eyes were more hollowed, his facial hair scruffier. It wasn’t a bad photo, but it’s clear it was a *real* photo. This was the actual Mitch. That tanned guy lounging on a boat, the James Bond suit moment, that impossibly chiselled corporate headshot? All AI-generated. This is the new world of ‘catfishing’ that’s taking over dating apps. Picture: SuppliedUsing ChatGPT as a wingman seems to only be growing in popularity. Picture: SuppliedCue my descent into a Google rabbit hole, discovering app after app promising to revolutionise your profile by generating ultra-realistic photos. One site boasts their photos will “significantly boost your chances of attracting more matches”. Another claims their AI-generated images will “reveal your best self” and “double your swipes with a more charming you”.Once I knew what to look for, I couldn’t unsee them. A chef straddling a motorbike with a suspiciously melted-looking BMW logo. A tradie with impossibly veiny forearms and ultra-smooth Sims-like skin. A real estate agent whose hand was so anatomically confused I initially thought he’d lost several fingers in a terrible accident - on closer inspection, just a jumbled mess of AI-generated fingers. In the world of dating apps, your photos are your first impression, so I guess it’s understandable that some of us are reaching for AI’s helping hand. We could dismiss this as the next evolution of Facetune - just another filter, just another edit. But this isn’t softening your jawline. This is fabricating an entirely different person along with an entirely made-up lifestyle. It is becoming increasingly, and worryingly, normal.It’s a troubling fabrication that is becoming increasingly normal. Literally. Picture: SuppliedIt’s not even just photos, but conversations that are getting outsourced to ChatGPT. Literally. Picture: SuppliedCapturing your sparkling personality in six photos and a handful of prompts already feels like an Olympic sport. Some Chatfishers, I would discover, have taken one step further, outsourcing our conversation to ChatGPT. I feel like I’m in a nightmare hall of mirrors, trying to chat to a real person - when really I’m talking to an algorithm, whose very nature is to echo back to me exactly what it thinks I want to hear. Against my better judgement, I’m still out here swiping. But AI has poisoned the well, creating a suffocating sense of distrust. Any profile that catches my eye gets scrutinised, and I know I’m not alone in feeling exhausted by it all.Even though I’m clued to the hallmarks of AI pics and ChatGPT prose, I fear for the women out there who aren’t.AI has introduced a new level of deception that’s harder to detect and infinitely more destabilising. We’re trying to build intimacy with someone when you can’t even be sure they wrote their own messages.When AI engineers your profile into some algorithmically perfect version of yourself, who exactly is showing up to that date?Dating is never perfect, it’s always a bit messy. It’s about discovering someone else’s peculiarities and letting them discover yours, stumbling through conversations, taking emotional risks. It’s fundamentally, beautifully imperfect. Dating apps have already gamified romance into something that feels more like admin than butterflies, and now we’re letting robots do even that for us?“Have a good night,” I told Tom as we awkwardly hugged goodbye. “Get home safe,” he said, before we split off in different directions. We’re letting robots take over our romantic life. Picture: SuppliedThe real you will feel like a disappointing downgrade when you arrive to your date. Picture: SuppliedNo matter how charming his chats were, it was Tom’s very human, very ordinary self on that date with me. No earpiece feeding him witty comebacks, no ChatGPT offering seven different conversation starters. That so many singles are relying on AI reveals that difficult truth - that deep down, we all know actual romance means showing up vulnerably, weird quirks and awkward phrasings included. Having ChatGPT smooth out your personality in the chat phase might get you to the date, but it guarantees the real you will feel like a disappointing downgrade.AI is supposedly the miracle cure for modern dating - amplifying your charisma, unlocking your best self, sparking the most authentic connections imaginable. But honestly? I’ve never been on a more generic date in my life.Read related topics:SydneyJoin the conversationAdd your comment to this storyTo join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? RegisterJoin the conversation, you are commenting as LogoutMore related storiesDatingAussie dating trend that’s ‘real-life Tinder’There’s a “hilarious” new way to find love on the dating scene that has singles ditching dating apps for an old school technique.Read moreDatingThe fastest-growing sexuality of the yearIt’s the fastest-growing sexuality of the year, but what does it actually mean and why are more people identifying with it?Read moreDating‘Incredible’: 28yo shocked at first date giftAn Aussie influencer has gone viral over an odd gift given to her by a man from Hinge, who’s setting ‘a new bar’ for dating.Read more