Dating app to help company staff find a match at work gets backing of Japanese firms amid the pandemic

About 800 firms and organisations in Japan have signed up to an AI-powered dating app to help employees find love at work and become more productive as a result

Aill goen’s AI helps out during initial text chats, suggesting when someone should ask for a date and what questions to ask to move a conversation along

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About 800 firms and organisations in Japan are using Aill Goen, an AI-powered dating app, to help staff find love during the pandemic – from within the companies themselves.

Published: 5:45pm, 2 Jan 2022

With the coronavirus pandemic reducing chances for people to meet in person, a large number of companies in Japan have turned to an AI-powered dating app to help their employees find love, and hopefully become happier and more productive workers as a result.

In all, about 800 firms and organisations across the country have signed up to the app called Aill goen, partly attracted by the fact that the pool of potential matches is limited to employees of the participating companies – thus providing “a secure and safe platform”, according to the developers of the service.

“My goal was to create a platform that would make it easier for employees to achieve a work-life balance and in turn boost the company’s growth as well,” said China Toyoshima, chief executive of Aill Inc, the Tokyo-based start-up that launched the service in November 2020.

“Employers were worried about the mental health of their workers, who were largely staying at home with almost no physical interaction during the pandemic,” she said, referring to the widespread trend of teleworking.

The coronavirus pandemic has reduced chances for people to meet in person. Photo: Getty Images

The firms to have signed up so far include big-name companies such as Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, Mizuho Securities, All Nippon Airways and The Mainichi Newspapers.