Dating AI Technology: Japan Leading the Way?

Dating AI technology is gaining a stronger foothold in Japan.

The island nation is losing population and its birth rate continues to decline. Japan’s birth rate fell by around 6% in 2019 to its lowest ever figure.

Local governments are looking to develop AI matchmaking systems to help arrest the trend. Human matchmakers have been common in Japan for decades.

The national government will guarantee about 60 percent of the cost of the more advanced AI dating systems, out of the ¥2 billion ($18 billion) it is requesting to fight the falling birthrate in next year’s fiscal budget

Saitama spent ¥15 million ($144,000) on an AI matchmaking system, which yielded an estimated 21 total marriages.

Apps like Tinder and Bumble are popular globally. But they don’t take into account a person’s hobbies, values, income/vocation, and other matters that could better match potential mates.

It’s well-known that dating is all about compatibilities. The more people are alike, the more likely they’ll match. This includes:

  • age
  • height (e.g., short men tend to end up with short women, tall women with tall men)
  • body type
  • education and intelligence levels
  • interests
  • values (which may manifest in things like political affiliation, religious views, etc.)
  • income

Big differences can and do exist, but they’re not common. Tinder may help people filter by age and location, but not much beyond that.

Moreover, many use Tinder for flings and not for purposes of seeking out serious relationships (which has opened up other apps like Hinge as a type of “looking for a serious relationship Tinder”). As a result, Tinder and less advanced systems can be difficult to find successful pairings. It can take a lot of swiping to meet few truly compatible matches.

AI technology is likely to be the way things are trending in the dating space. By getting as much data and information as possible from those in the system, better matches can be made more quickly and more successfully.

Japanese local governments are running the first big AI dating projects.

Will more effective AI dating systems soon spread to apps released by the private sector?

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