FINDING THE PERFECT MATCH

Ruwandi Perera wonders if AI can help human beings find their soul mates

Men and women have been searching for romance since time began. People have been enjoying Valentine’s Day since 496 AD after the Romans stopped celebrating the fertility festival of Lupercalia. Yet, even 1,500 years later, we are none the wiser when it comes to finding the perfect partner.

Enter technology; or to be exact, it’s AI to the rescue! Artificial intelligence is the new Cupid in town and it’s changing the game of love – or the search for it – like never before.

This isn’t exactly a new thing… because technology has been involved in the dating scene for a while now. Online dating has been around for years; and today, businesses use two ways to seek com-patibility.

Sites such as eHarmony ask users for information on preferences, personality, behaviour and demographics while others such as Tinder simply link users’ social media accounts to their dating profiles.

The latter is trending due to its ease and effectiveness. With humans connecting more and more intimately with tech­nology, there’s a lot of fodder for AI to work with… and to find one the most suitable partner who is out there.

Of course, the ‘fodder’ referred to here is data – lots and lots of data… on users’ demographics, behaviours, attitudes and opinions, likes and dislikes, habits, work patterns and every aspect of their lives from the movies they download to where they were last Friday night.

Remember that episode in The Big Bang Theory where Howard and Raj match Amy and Sheldon through an online dating site… and then – seven seasons later, they end up getting married? That is the power of AI: to find the person with whom we are most com­patible by combing through massive amounts of data.

Today, this data goes beyond preferences and personality, and is hovering around DNA. There are R&D efforts to use our DNA sequences to find those to whom we are sexually and chemically attracted.

This is based on the evolutionary theory that we are programmed to find a mate with whom we can procreate most effectively. Whether our DNA ascertains our emotional harmony is another question! But in terms of biological compatibility, it will be spot on.

And it’s not only data regarding the two people who are destined to be with each other that helps AI make the match – it’s data about everyone else too.

The beauty of artificial intelligence is its learning capacity. Algorithms can synthesise data from billions of people to give us the best options. So AI helps us learn from others’ experiences; and in turn, contribute to the pool of data driven knowledge.

So will AI govern all our relationships and make us robotic in nature? Not necessarily. It won’t change our emotions but artificial intelligence will facilitate the process of finding a suitable partner. It will replace cupid and matchmakers – including those whose services are sought and others who forcibly offer their advice.

AI could be the third wheel in a relationship if it is so allowed, and suggest activities for the couple based on their common interests and past experiences; provide dating advice; and even counsel on how to deal with arguments. With all that information on your partner and love in general at your fingertips, dating and marriage will be a heart-shaped piece of cake.

With great knowledge however, come great problems. With so much data being used to find solutions, issues regarding privacy, confidentiality and anonymity are almost unavoidable. Social media platforms will have access to all users’ personal data…

While all this might be used to find the perfect match, busi­nesses that own and operate these platforms can also use your data for other purposes such as targeted advertising or worse.

Another concern regarding the growing power of technology is the problem of fake profiles and ‘deep fakes’ such as false images or videos created using AI to generate virtual people who don’t exist but look and sound real.

We’re not sure how helpful or harmful AI will be as a matchmaker. It may help you find your soul mate but it could also limit your options to only those who are your type.

Yet, and as is true of all forms of technology, artificial intelligence will not replace the human element of love in relationships. It will merely give us plenty of support to find love… though to some extent, we may not be able to make our own choices independently.

AI will strive to make the dicey business of dating and marriage risk-free, and help humans to play it safe and perfect. But on second thoughts, is that what we really want?