Gen Z daters want deeper connections, but some use AI, Hinge reports

Dating in 2025 is not for the faint of heart, especially if you are a young adult. Between growing up online and coming of age during COVID lockdowns, Gen Z has a different experience finding love than any other generation.

The popular dating app Hinge reported part of this experience in the app’s latest DATE (Data, Advice, Trends, and Expertise) report, called closing the communication gap, or the difference between young daters’ desire for deeper conversations versus their hesitation to initiate them.

For this report, Hinge Labs, the app’s research team, surveyed nearly 30,000 Hinge users globally this year.

Gen Z struggles to open up

Gen Z daters are 36 percent more hesitant than their Millennial counterparts to initiate deep conversations on a first date — that is, beyond small talk.

This is consistent with Hinge’s previous research. In 2024, Hinge found that Gen Z singles were 47 percent more likely to say that the pandemic had made them nervous about talking to new people than Millennials, and 25 percent more likely to say that the pandemic had made them less confident on a first date.

Now, at the end of 2025, 35 percent of all Hinge daters across gender and sexuality say they are holding back from having deeper conversations because they don’t know how to start.

There is also a “communication gap”, especially between women and men. Forty-two percent of heterosexual Gen Z women think the men they date don’t want to have deep conversations on the first few dates, but 65 percent of heterosexual Gen Z men say they do.

Early dating often locks people into invisible scripts — like who is “passive” and who is “active,” Hinge’s love and connection expert, Mo Ari Brown, said in the report. “Falling into these types of roles can quietly deplete a relationship because, while habits create routine, they can also create monotony or imbalance.”

Zooming out, 43 percent of Gen Z women wait for the other person to initiate a deep conversation, partly because they believe men don’t want them, and 48 percent of Gen Z men hold back from emotional intimacy because they don’t want to appear “too much.” Other concerns are fear of rejection and being judged.

It also matches what Hinge found last year: 95 percent of Gen Z daters worry about rejection, and 56 percent said that worry has kept them from pursuing a potential relationship.

Another reason for Gen Z’s retreat is social media. According to the 2025 report, half of Gen Z men, 45 percent of Gen Z women, and 39 percent of nonbinary Gen Z daters said social media has made them more hesitant to be emotionally open.

In a time where almost every step a person takes is posted online (if not every single step), the fear of being objected is strong. But to find love we have to embrace it. As Logan Ury, chief relationship scientist at Hinge, said in the new report, “Authentic connection requires vulnerability and imperfection.”

…even using AI tools to date

Still, it may be easier than ever to outsource vulnerability with AI, which Gen Z daters are turning to. From flirting to wedding planning, young adults are using AI tools like ChatGPT to shape their relationship experiences.

More than half (58 percent) of Gen Z men who turn to AI for dating use it to initiate conversations, and exactly half use it to generate conversational responses. Forty percent of Gen Z women who use AI do so to initiate a chat, and 57 percent also use it to respond to conversations.

Meanwhile, only 34 percent of Hinge daters overall are comfortable or neutral about using AI to compose messages.

As difficult as it is, you may want to get out of ChatGPTT to find your soulmate in 2026. If you’re looking for more emotional intimacy you’re not alone: ​​84 percent of Gen Z Hinge Daters want to find new ways to make deeper connections with the people they’re dating.