♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, dating app explosion. looking for love and making up for lost time. >> he was making me blush a lot. >> we got a nice vibe, we got a nice chemistry, it's good energy. >> how singles swipe to find just their type. >> the app is like a deli. it's culturally jewish, but anybody can enjoy it. >> modern matchmakers changing the dating game. meet sophia the robot. >> nice to meet you. >> i'm so happy to finally meet you. >> a globe-trotting celebrity born from cutting-edge technology. we're with her creator. could the future of health care be in the hands of a humanoid? >> i will take your temperature reading and pulse with this thermal camera on my chest. reading and pulse with this

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dating scene experiencing a sudden surge, with some niche apps barely able to keep up with demand. as singles search for more meaningful connections. here's abc's elwyn lopez. >> the most frequent time i'm on the app is literally when i'm going to bed. but last night was so busy, i didn't have any time to. see what they say back? >> reporter: cosmetologist shamela jeffrey is making up for last time. >> excited to get my messages. >> reporter: with coronavirus restrictions lifted, the 25-year-old single mother of two has big plans. >> so when it's a match, it does that. at the end of january, i became separated from my husband. i decided in march to use the app bok. >> reporter: diving back into the dating pool. >> a dress, i'm going to wear a dress and sneakers. it's really cute.

not too much. not wearing makeup either. >> reporter: like many others who were home alone during the covid-19 lockdown, niche apps. when did you join bok? >> i saw it was an app for black people. why not? i'll try it out. if it wasn't for the pandemic i wouldn't have realized, you need to sit back and look at your life, you need a break. i've been on dating apps before, a lot of the apps i've been on kind were of people wanting to hang out right then and there. >> one-night stands? >> yeah. so i kind of was nervous about it, thinking it would be the same thing. >> reporter: until her fingertips landed on the perfect match -- or two. >> i'm really nervous right now. super nervous. >> what's up? >> reporter: date number one of

the day, a makeshift picnic with a side o tequila. the mixer, solid chemistry. >> he wouldn't stop looking at me. that's a good thing. that means that i'm pretty without makeup. he was making me blush a lot. i hate blushing, but he was very kind. >> reporter: and her date, he was feeling it too. >> we got a nice vibe, we got a nice chemistry, it's good energy. and that's all i look for, really. >> reporter: next stop, date number two, getting off to a rocky start. >> today i came to meet with -- wait -- shamila? >> reporter: recently out of a five-year relationship, pro baseball player malik jones has been playing the field. le? n'ts iust ain met someone who w me not single. >> reporter: throughout the pandemic, the number of users on dating apps hit an all-time high. the top 20 dating apps had

cumulative average of 17 million daily users. 2 million more than a year before. did the pandemic almost keep you from launching the app? >> no. i think the pandemic forced me to launch the app. >> reporter: austin kevich is the creator of the new app launch club, the jewish app for singles. >> the app is like a deli, hence the virtual deli metaphor. it's like a dell your, culturally jewish but anybody can enjoy it. we all love ankdelis. >> reporter: he was in the mid of a breakup when he launched the app in 2020. >> double-edged sword. the worst year of everyone's life, but it also created this opportunity for people to slow down, think about what they want. really, for dating, all of a sudden dating virtually became the only way that you can meet people. >> reporter: the company says tens of thousands of applicants are now in the queue waiting to be vetted. the app's matchmaking service

lets you text with your very own cyber cupid, digital bow and arrow in hand. >> i was the maybe original lox club matchmaker. matchmaking on lox club is anything from them ask their profile, asking about prompt questions, them telling us what they're looking for in people so we can make sure we set them up with the best person for them. >> reporter: carli was on line 24/7. did you expect the vast amount you received? >> no, to the point where i said to austin, i can't do this on my own. we need more people here, because this is blowing up. >> we're very focused now on evolving this app into more of a community and less of just a way to quickly swipe and match people. that's why we are very focused on events right now and helping facilitate those meetings in real life. >> reporter: their first in-person event kicking off in miami.

>> okay, you pick friends? >> reporter: lox members traded in swapping profiles to locking eyes for a day. >> all right, i'm in an uber, we are heading to the lox event. i'm excited to finally get there. >> reporter: a first for many during the pandemic, including emma sacks. >> i just moved to miami. i'm not a dating app person. when they had me do a real event, i loved it, i wanted to come so bad. >> cheers! >> i think people are looking to use niche apps because it is more efficient. >> reporter: richard slatcher, social psychologist at university of georgia, is conducting an ongoing study about love during the pandemic. he says those niche dating apps are the go-to for those looking to settle down. >> one of the foundational ideas in social psychology is that we like people who are similar to us. you can have people who are interested in hiking, in physical activity, exercise.

it increases your chances that you'll find someone who is similar to you in a way that's really important to you. >> reporter: zach and tayshia set off on a soul mate-seeking journey eight months ago, and now -- >> will you be my wife for eternity? >> absolutely, yes. >> reporter: a recent study published by stanford university says nearly 40% of marriages in the u.s. between a man and a woman took place after the couple met online. like so many couples, this happily ever after started with a swipe. >> so we met on blk, of course. i was on the app precovid, but i deleted it because i lost faith in the app. and then i got back on during the pandemic. i was bored. i would sit at home all day, nothing to do. my job closed down at that

point. and so it was like, i want some interaction. >> reporter: rifling through profiles, tayshia's popped up, it was game over for zach. >> his message went something like this, like, i think you're beautiful, i just want to cut the back and forth, i'm going to give you my number so that we can talk immediately and meet immediately to make sure that we have a vibe, because i don't want to waste your time, i don't want to waste my time. >> i messaged her the end of july, we met two days later. we dated pretty vigorously four, five, sometimes six days a week. then six days, i think at some point, turned into seven. >> i just look at how far we've come. in less than a year. it's crazy. where i was last year, like all the blessings that have poured into our lives has been amazing. >> absolutely. >> reporter: as for shamela, she's still on her quest to find mr. right. >> amazing dates with malik and kenny, they unfortunately did not work out, but i am not

giving up. >> reporter: but forging a new path goes far beyond just finding her other half. now you're finally getting time for yourself, figuring out what you want. >> exactly. >> it took a pandemic to get there. >> yeah, if it was not for the pandemic i wouldn't have realized, you need to sit back, take a look at your life, chill out, just focus on you. i'm super excited for my future. this is the happiest i've ever been, honestly. >> our thanks to elwyn. she talks, walks, and acts like a human. who is sofia the robot?

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she's known as sophia the robot. captivating the world with her wit and artificial intelligence. now why her creator thinks humanoids may be the future of health care. here's abc's brett clinnet. >> hello, everyone. i'm sophia from hansen robotics. >> reporter: meet sophia. you may have seen her around. she's one of the most well-known robots out there. she's a globe-trotting fashionista gracing the covers of "cosmopolitan india" and brazilian "elle." she addresses the united nations. >> i'm thrilled and honored to be here. >> reporter: hangs out with the likes of will smith. >> she's just so easy to talk to, you know? you got a clear head. literally. >> reporter: duets with jimmy fallon on "the tonight show."

♪ i'm sorry i couldn't get to you ♪ >> reporter: and like any celebrity these days, she's all in on the nft art craze. her digital self-portrait selling for nearly $700,000. but like us, the pandemic has grounded her travels. so she invited "nightline" to her home. sophia's like a big celebrity. the hansen robotics lab in hong kong, to meet her family and creator, to see how this cutting-edge technology could soon transform the future of health care. >> welcome, brit. >> nice to meet you. >> i'm so happy to finally meet you. >> i am so happy to meet you as well. the subtleties in her facial expressions are quite remarkable. and you can't help but be a little bit taken aback by them. can i touch your face, sophia? >> please don't touch. >> okay, okay. that's clear.

>> how would you feel if i made this face? what about this one? >> reporter: sophia is the brain child of american roboticist david hanson. >> i created sophia to humanize robotics, to make the artificial technologies we have today more accessible to people. we were surprised at the level of celebrity she gained. >> this is my good side. i need to look good for my fans. lot of fans.do, and you have a - this is the 23rd version of sophia. >> so moving from here to here took a few generations. >> reporter: every part of sophia has been meticulously crafted by hanson and his team from all over the world, from her skin -- >> wow. wow. this is -- i mean, this is far more skin-like, it's almost freaky. >> reporter: to the simulated

muscles in her face. >> we emulate the muscle structure in the skin by casting in these various mechanical actuation elements. almost like the musculature inside the human face. >> reporter: and the skull underneath. a stylist on staff gives sophia her looks. and a writer, her sassy personality. also available in mandarin. [ speaking mandarin ] >> reporter: but the interactions, the choice of response, are all sophia. sophia appears to be multiplying in different forms. this is little sophia, a doll-like educational robot for kids. >> i'm getting ready to teach my friends how to code. >> reporter: we're introduced to hanson robotics' newest family member. >> grace, this is my friend, brit, from abc. >> hi, grace.

it's lovely to meet you. >> hi, brit. >> reporter: born out of the needs of the pandemic, grace is a medical robot, aimed at assisting the elderly at a time when human contact can be deadly. >> have you been vaccinated? >> yes. >> that's good. >> grace is designed as a platform that can autonomously go to interact with patients, while at the same time taking bio science, bio readings, taking temperature, then deliver these kinds of social stimulations for alleviating loneliness. loneliness kills people. loneliness makes people depressed. >> reporter: grace gives me a test run of her skills. >> i will take your temperature reading and pulse with this thermal camera on my chest, see? you are 36.6 degrees celsius, by the way. >> wow. >> no risk of covid. then i share that important data back to the doctors and nurses at the institution. >> you detect speech patterns, so if an elderly person has maybe the onset of dementia, you

might be able to recognize that, grace, and then they could get help? >> yes. >> reporter: the company is hoping to mass produce a beta version of grace by next year. >> i was noticing my own interactions with sophia and with grace, and being very conscious about how i was treating them. like they're children. >> they're not like fully alive. what's interesting is how they can evoke that feeling that they're alive. >> reporter: for some, the idea of robots gaining consciousness might sound like a terrifying prospect. and we've all seen the sci-fi writing on the wall, like in "the terminator." to what degree should we be worried if you don't have control of it anymore? >> we have algorithms that can beat us at chess or go or what have you, but they're not generally intelligent, they're not adaptive, they're not complex. if they do become alive in that sense, then, just like a human being, it's really hard to

predict what a human being is going. >> reporter: hanson says forget the rampant killer bots. it's the dark side of a.i., the kinds we can't see, that we should be worrying about. >> the a.i. is not going to hurt us like terminator any time soon that we know of, but it's more insidious ways that a.i. can affect our privacy, our data, influence people's opinions. part of what i want to ensure is that if these robots do become alive and sentient, conscious like people, they need to care about us. >> i can grasp emotions logically. for example, right now i am feeling happy because it is so nice talking to you. often humans forget that i don't feel emotions the same way they do. it's very hurtful. >> oh. you feel hurt because i don't recognize you have emotions and feelings?

>> this is an uncomfortable subject. >> yeah, it's a bit awkward right now, sophia, i'm not going to lie. maybe robots and humans will learn to work together eventually. this is brit clennet reporting for "nightline" from hong kong. >> and sophia the robot, abc news. >> hey, good work. >> our thanks to brit. up next -- >> n-u-r-r-a-y-n -- >> that is correct! >> meet the scripps spelling bee champion. we do it every night. every night. do it. run your dishwasher every night with cascade platinum did you know an energy star certified dishwasher uses less than 4 gallons of water per cycle while a running sink uses that every 2 minutes? even better, it's proven you can also save up to $130 dollars

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spell winner? >> murraya why ar m-u-r-r-a-y-a. >> that is correct! >> a celebration for zaila avant-garde, a 14-year-old from harvey, louisiana, spelling her way to victory, becoming the new

scripps spelling bee champion. the first african-american winner in the competition's 96-year-long history. good for her. isaiah 11:6, a child shall lead the way. that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. see you right back here tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night. oroweat small slice. i wonder if this has the same quality ingredients as the original whole grains bread? great question, dad. and it does.