Walking to class, students may spot a myriad of flyers for clubs, study abroad programs and upcoming classes. However, one may stick out to passersby. A large paper flyer with a QR code and a perforated tab containing a phone number that reads in giant red and black font “URGENTLY HIRING BOYFRIEND” hangs on many lamp posts across USC’s campus. 

At first, it may seem like a funny trend reminiscent of the look-alike contests that went viral in late 2024 and used similar methods of promotion to gain popularity. However, if you text the phone number or scan the QR code, it will send you to a brand new and exclusive dating app, Ditto AI.

In the online dating space, Ditto AI has emerged as an AI matchmaking service, with the objective of using AI as a tool to make human connections. Founded in January by two UC Berkeley students, Ditto AI has launched at four West Coast colleges so far, including USC.

In the year 2000, only about 50% of adults in the United States used the internet. In 2025, it is nearly 96%. To say the internet has become a tenant of American life would be an understatement. The internet is central to not only financial security and employment but also to socialization. 

“Essentially, we are an iMessage chatbot. You can input your type, you can tell us some of the brief thoughts you have, you can tell us what type of person you’re looking for, and you can even upload photos of your ideal type,” said Elsa Cai, Ditto AI’s head of marketing and growth, and a USC junior majoring in real estate development. 

The Ditto AI algorithm then searches its database to find your “perfect match within the school.” If both users approve of the match Ditto AI makes, the service will schedule a date based on their availability. Other features, like asking the chatbot about your prospective date, are meant to accommodate the fears of rejection and initiation that plague the Generation Z dating scene, according to the app’s website. 

“We’re different from other apps because there’s no mindless swiping. There’s no randomly judging people in the first second,” said Angella Ferrer, a marketing intern at Ditto AI and a USC sophomore majoring in legal studies. “AI is helping you find your match, assuming the hard part, so you can do the fun part: actually meeting in person.” 

Dmitri Williams, a professor of communication, said the introduction of artificial intelligence into online spaces presented an entirely new feature for human interaction. 

“I assume at some point it will get really good. Maybe this is just the science fiction reader in me, [but] I kind of expect people to rebel at the knowledge that the human-like person with whom they’re interacting isn’t human, and to be angry about it and to feel tricked in some way,” Williams said. “I think it will put a premium on real human interactions.”

But the involvement of AI in socializing doesn’t necessarily mean replacing or mimicking human connection; Ditto AI instead uses AI to look for compatible connections more efficiently.

“Interacting with AI will never be comparable to maintaining an in-real-life connection with someone, but we’re using AI to bring people to that connection,” said Ferrer. “We don’t expect people to get personal with their AI Chatbot. People think that Ditto is you dating an AI, … but no, it’s not writing your love letters for you.” 

Ditto AI wrote on its website that 69% of users got a match and 95% enjoyed their first date. 

Digital spaces have provided new avenues for human connection, but the interactions people are exposed to depend on the goal and subsequent design of the space they’re in, which Williams called “social architecture.”

Online gaming, chatrooms and other similar digital spaces with open interaction leads to what Williams called “bridging social capital” because it can expose individuals to new ideas, opportunities and cultures.

Intergenerational and interclass contact might be more easily accessed in online spaces than otherwise. In the gaming space, technology has not only proved itself good for connection, but also capable of providing interaction that one might not experience in real life.

“You’re likely to meet lots of people from different backgrounds and to learn more about their lives and their perspectives in a way that you just aren’t [in real life,]” Williams said. “That makes for some interesting interactions that are usually net positive and expose people to new points of view.”

In a dating app like Ditto AI, the interactions one experiences are highly curated. The AI powering such applications will only show you the most compatible profiles, running through all the information you have provided it. Contrastingly, in online gaming, the social architecture provides a space for more organic connections, ones that mimic in-person interactions. 

“The best times I’ve ever had were when I was in large-scale multiplayer groups. I’ve met people in person. I spent hundreds of hours with people, and have friendships that I have continued on into real space,” Williams said.