Artificial intelligence turns match maker! How AI is helping matrimony sites

Searching for a life partner on matrimony sites has become hi-tech now, as the the marriage portals are taking the help of artificial intelligence to find and recommend a life partner for their users. Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm is helping the users on matrimony sites to find a match not only based on their preferences but also by observing and understanding user's behaviour and suggesting real-time appropriate profiles.

"AI algorithm knows more about what you are looking for than you might yourself! This helps us find the best matches for our users - not just by searching according to preferences but by observing user behaviour and suggesting similar matches," Shaadi.Com Chief Technical Officer Siddharth Sharma told PTI.

Consenting to it, Meenakshi Variankaval, Head (Data Sciences Lab) at Matrimony.Com, which owns BharatMatrimony, said AI is helping the matrimony services to understand the diversity and several other factors for matchmaking.

"Definitely AI and machine learning help to match better. The diversity and the numerous factors that come to play during matchmaking -- ranging from personal interests, education, language, career, family, lifestyle to horoscopes is what makes it interesting for AI to understand behaviour, history and more to match," she added.

According to Variankaval, Matrimony.Com employs data-driven techniques, which offer suggestions on a real-time basis and recommend appropriate profiles to its members, thereby enhancing their experience and helping them find a match based on their preferences.

"We have also deepened behaviour-based personalisation," Variankaval added.

According to Sharma, machine learning is used from day one when a user registers and helps through his or her journey.

On being asked whether it has led to any positive impact on the number of users, Sharma said: "Yes, the moment we started using machine learning, it improved the engagement on our platform significantly."

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Matrimony site Banihal co-founder and CEO Ishdeep Sawhney said, "Artificial intelligence is better technology in solving problem compared to an individual or marriage broker trying to take all this information and finding the right answer," Sawhney added.

According to him, "Banihal has been doing matchmaking using the artificial intelligence engine Rae for the past 2 years. We have been successful with making the right introductions through this platform so that our customers do not need to search for profiles and take the time to talk and meet people to complete their search.

On being asked whether AI system would replace the traditional questionnaire format to gather the information at the time of opening a user's account, Sharma said :"To a large part but not completely"

"For example, from the name, one can surmise the community and language preferences. One can make educated guesses by observing their likes and dislikes and start to build a picture of what kind of matches, they are looking for.

"However, matchmaking often requires precise information such as date of birth, education, occupation and income which is not something that can be surmised. So yes, while AI can help make the questionnaire much shorter, it cannot eliminate it entirely," said Sharma.