The FirstDate app was launched as a pilot this month and is currently only available to Singapore’s public officials. Users of the app are required to answer a series of questions about their interests and values as the algorithm uses the data to match the singles, one date at a time. With birth rates plummeting due to record-low fertility rates, Singapore has released a new dating app for its government workers, encouraging them to mingle and hopefully have more children.
On its website, FirstDate highlights the Gale-Shapley Stable Marriage algorithm which powers the programme.
The dating app is limited to those aged 21 to 35, with its Nobel-winning algorithm looking to put an end to “swipe fatigue” and help users build a “thoughtful connection,” according to a report in the BBC . “At the end of the day, I think the experience of meeting someone through an application doesn’t change much across the [different types of] applications,” Elizabeth, a 29-year-old defence ministry employee, told the publication.
