“We hope this support will help reverse the decline in the country’s birth rate.”

RomanceBot

Japanese authorities are taking an unconventional approach to increasing the country’s declining birth rate: helping the lonely population find love, using AI.

Yoshihide Suga, the new Prime Minister of Japan elected in September, will invest $ 19 million in local governments that are developing artificial intelligence algorithms to serve as a matchmaker for lonely singles in their region, according to France Media Agency. It sounds, well, unusual – but officials are hoping AI is savvy enough to revitalize the country’s entire population.

MatchmAIker

Using AI in a dating service is nothing new – any dating app will rely on some sort of algorithm to determine which accounts it places in front of whom. What does stand out, however, is that this is a government project rather than a dating company like Tinder or OkCupid that grooms people.

However, almost half of Japanese prefectures already offer some sort of matchmaking service for locals, AFP reports – the government is now just looking to give them a high-tech boost.

Baby boom

Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world with just 1.36 children expected per family, AFP reports. This could have serious repercussions for the country years from now, in particular, it is already struggling to cope with a labor shortage.

“In particular, we plan to offer grants to local governments that operate or initiate twinning projects using AI,” said an official in the Prime Minister’s Office. AFP. “We hope this support will help reverse the country’s declining birth rate. “

READ MORE: Japan increases AI funding to match lonely hearts [Agence France-Presse]

Learn more about romantic AI: Redditor claims they fell in love with OpenAI’s neural network

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