Match has announced the latest dating innovation as it launches an artificial intelligence dating coach available on a smart home device. The launch, a first for the UK, comes after working closely with Google. This marks a year since the global dating leader announced the arrival of the Lara dating coach on Facebook Messenger. The new service offers singles a unique ‘daily match’, bespoke dating tips and suggestions of the best date venues, all through a spoken conversation.
Created to act as a personal wing-woman, daters can now talk with Lara through the Google Assistant. Conversations are initiated by saying “Ok Google, talk to Lara from Match”, and through artificial intelligence and keyword recognition technology, Lara can understand users’ intentions and hold a full conversation to help them through the dating journey.
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Lara offers three new and unique propositions for users:
Daily Match
For Match members only, Lara will select a unique member profile based on a single’s Match search preferences (age, location and common interests). The profile details of the daily match can then be sent to a phone via SMS, allowing daters to seamlessly contact their potential date.
Date locations
Lara will offer all users suggestions for a perfect date location. She will ask what kind of date setting a single is looking for and use Google Map’s Geocoding API to make a recommendation. Providing the user has given their permission, Lara will offer to send the details via SMS with a link to a map. As the conversations progress, Lara will learn from the user’s dating experiences to suggest more relevant locations in the future, based on their feedback.
Dating advice and tips
For those with the first-date jitters, Lara also comes armed with a range of dating advice, all based on Match’s 23 years of experience. She can cover everything from top date turn-offs to overcoming nerves. For example, if a single is feeling a little shy about going on a date, Lara will respond with suggestions on how to combat those first-date nerves.
Lara will also proactively encourage the continuation of the conversation by offering further dating tips and asking users if they need any more advice. The more daters chat to Lara and the more she gets to know them, the more tailored her answers will become.
Xavier de Baillenx, Innovation Leader at Match says: “This is a very exciting time for Match and puts us at the forefront of innovation in the dating industry. We are always looking at the role technology can play in improving our member’s experience to offer them new ways of meeting their potential dates that will easily fit in with their busy everyday life. Building upon the success of Lara on Facebook, we wanted to enhance and explore the possibilities of AI, which has provided us with a great outcome so far. We look forward to developing Lara further as technology evolves.”