Singapore govt dating app uses Gale-Shapley stable marriage algorithm(twitter.com)
446 points by rzk 14 days ago | 463 comments
tl;dr: Singapore's government has launched FirstDate, a dating app for public servants aged 21-35 that uses the Gale-Shapley stable marriage algorithm to produce mathematically stable matches where no two users would mutually prefer each other over their assigned pairs. The app enforces one match per cycle with a 72-hour decision window, Singpass identity verification, and reveals contact info only on mutual acceptance. Unlike commercial apps optimized for engagement, FirstDate is designed to get users off the platform.
HN Discussion:
  • ↓People don't actually know their true preferences, undermining the algorithm's premise
  • ↓Technically it can't be real Gale-Shapley since full ranking of thousands is impractical
  • ↑Government-run app has better incentives than commercial apps that profit from engagement
  • ↓Singapore government is overly paternalistic in orchestrating citizens' lives
  • •Technical curiosity about implementation details like gender initiation or related algorithms