[russellbeattie]

Dating sites definitely need some ML and AI thrown at them for the user, so we can make basic decision trees and save ourselves time and effort.

Is there an actual person in the photos? Is it obvious which person it is? Are there any that aren't close up selfies? Are there any close up selfies? Are they smiling? Any red flags like pictures of Machu Picchu or marathons or massive glasses of alcohol or teardrop tattoos under the left eye?

We can visually identify thousands of species of birds at this point, surely computer science can tackle this important problem next, no?

[yellowapple]

At the very least, dating sites should have all the data they need to figure out what a user's "type" might be and prioritize profiles matching that type.

[parliament32]

This was the entire idea behind OkCupid. Strong analytics and lots of Q&A to match you with people based on "compatibility".

Turns out people don't give a shit about compatibility, they just want to date hot people. Figures.

[yellowapple]

"hot people" is what I was getting at by "type". Machine learning nowadays should be able to figure out "hey, this user likes people who look like this, so let's prioritize potential matches who look like this".

If you wanna get extra dystopian, link the profile to a PornHub account and figure out the user's "type" that way.

[tuesdayrain]

What people consider "hot" can be extremely different. For me any attraction to a woman completely disappears if doesn't have natural brunette hair, isn't interested in STEM, likes cats, has different political views from me, etc. I'm sure I'm not the only one with strict preferences. I've always felt like dating apps didn't put enough effort into capitalizing on that. Luckily I'm married and don't have to worry about that anymore.

[Terretta]

People did. OKC didn’t.

OKC pivoted to volume and frequency of swipes over quality of matches, the superficial engagement metric that generally ruins content.

[parliament32]

Well yes but that all happened after the Match Group acquisition a few years ago (right about the time they introduced "swiping"). Before that it was all algo and profiles... and OKC didn't have a rep for being any better than all the other dating sites.