Pour Moi Romance Report: Can You Spot An AI Dating Profile?

Dating in today’s age is no longer as simple as meeting the love of your life at work or having the perfect ‘meet cute’ at a bar. In 2025, a hot date (or an excuse to don your sexy lingerie) is available at the tap or the swipe of your screen. While this is great for hopeful romantics to meet people outside their hometowns and social circles, it also comes with some risks. From catfishers to AI-generated profiles, those looking for love need to ensure they don’t look at their dating apps through rose-tinted glasses. 

To reveal how AI is transforming online dating, our Pour Moi sexy lingerie experts conducted a global survey to determine how many people can spot an artificially generated profile.

Online dating has become a mainstream way to find love, with 41% of adults saying they have used dating apps or websites to seek romance. The trend is even more pronounced in the United States, where nearly half (48%) of the respondents said they have dated online, compared to just a third (34%) in the UK.

Age plays a significant role in dating habits. As expected, the digital-savvy 25-34 age group is the most active in online dating, with a whopping 64% saying they have used dating platforms. However, even among older demographics, online dating is proving popular. Surprisingly, one in four (25%) of those aged 55 and above have also dipped their toes into the digital dating pool.

With so many singles turning to the internet to find love, the ability to distinguish between real and AI-generated profiles is more important than ever.

Our research proves that people are confident in their ability to identify fake dating profiles, but is this confidence justified? When asked how confident they were in their ability to spot an AI-generated profile, nearly three in five (57%) of survey respondents said they could tell the difference between a real and fake profile.

However, the results tell us a different story. When participants were presented with 10 dating profiles - six real and four AI-generated - an average of 62% of people failed to identify the fake ones correctly. Even more worryingly, 22% of respondents didn’t believe any of the profiles were fraudulent, meaning nearly 5.1 million adults in the UK alone could be at risk of falling for an AI-created catfish.

This varied by age:

18-24-year-olds were the most confident in their AI-spotting abilities, but despite this, over 55% of them still failed to correctly identify AI-generated profiles.

The 55+ age group struggled the most, with 32% believing that all profiles were real. Thus, they were the most vulnerable to AI-driven deception.

1. 67% failed to identify this profile as AI:

2. 65% didn’t notice this was an AI-generated profile

3. 61% didn’t spot the below AI-created profile:

4. 55% failed to identify this profile as AI:

When comparing responses across the Atlantic, Americans were slightly more confident in their ability to identify AI-created dating profiles than their British counterparts. However, confidence did not necessarily translate to accuracy.

• In the UK, 64% of respondents failed to detect AI-generated profiles, slightly more than the 60% in the US.
• A higher proportion of UK respondents (26%) didn’t believe any of the profiles were fake, compared to 18% of Americans, suggesting Brits may be more trusting (or more naïve) when it comes to online dating.
• However, one in five (20%) of Americans say they have been catfished compared to just 12% of those in the UK. 

This means that British singles are more exposed to AI-generated deception. Marina Nicoli, Marketing Manager at Pour Moi, commented: “As a brand, we are committed to helping women feel confident and sexy at all times. We conducted this research partly because we know how much confidence and energy dating takes up. With the rise of AI and catfishing, we want to ensure that our customers don’t get their confidence knocked down by timewasters.”

We know that it can take a lot of courage to put yourself out there and start looking for love. So, for those navigating the online dating world, we want to help you stay safe while dating online. 

1. Look out for inconsistencies in photos and text, run reverse image searches, and trust your instincts if something feels off. As much as we all want to believe in a fairytale romance, it’s always better to approach online love with a mix of optimism and caution.
2.  Ask to add them on social media. Although there may be more images on there that are AI-generated, you will soon get an idea of whether or not they have a close group of friends, and family and a general understanding of who they are.
3. Zoom in on the images. Images that have been artificially crafted often feature lots of freckles, super bright eyes, and often blurred/soft edges that can look like a gentle filter. Looking for these tell-tale signs can be helpful.

So, the next time you swipe right on that perfect match, take a second look - because you might just be falling for AI. However, if you have met someone who ticks all the right boxes and has you thinking that you may need to update your sexy lingerie, be sure to check out our whole collection here: https://www.pourmoi.co.uk/lingerie/sexy/

Methodology

We conducted a picture survey via Censuswide surveying 3,000 participants (50% UK and 50% USA) asking:

Q1. Have you ever dated online? Q2. What apps or websites have you used/do you use currently? (Select all that apply) Q3. Do you think you could spot a fake/ AI profile? Q4. Have you ever been 'catfished' online? Q5. What pictures, if any, do you think are AI-generated? (choosing out of 10, whereby four were AI and six were not).

Sources:

1: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/demographics/age-groups/latest#:~:text=Summary%20of%20Age%20groups%20Age,percentage%20in%20this%20age%20range 

2: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/united-states-adult-population-grew-faster-than-nations-total-population-from-2010-to-2020.html#:~:text=Population%20Under%20Age%2018%20Declined%20Last%20Decade&text=In%202020%2C%20the%20U.S.%20Census,from%20234.6%20million%20in%202010.