The origin of computer recognition

By: Aine Quinn / BBC
Translation: Telegrafi.com

According to historian Francesca Beauman, in 1788, a man named "AB" placed the first known personal advertisement in New York City, in the newspaper Impartial Gazetteer. He was looking for a woman “under 40, not deformed and worth at least a thousand pounds.” Describing himself as “a young gentleman with family and wealth, newly arrived in town,” his ad could be considered a biography of tinderIt is not known whether AB received any response, but almost 200 years later, New York became the birthplace of another innovative approach to dating – computer-based matchmaking.

Created by Bob Ross (a computer programmer at IBM, not the painter) and accountant Lewis Altfest, Tact – or Technical Automated Compatibility Testing – was launched in New York 60 years ago, in 1965. Initially limited to the Upper East Side, it quickly expanded throughout the city, and thousands of people signed up to have the computer find their match. According to Rossi, each interested person had to pay five dollars and fill out a questionnaire that was then used to create matches “on three levels”: socio-cultural factors, thoughts and values, and psychological factors. The answers were processed by the computer, which produced a presumed match with the opposite sex. Same-sex encounters were not an option. “Tact "It's not a club for lonely hearts," Ross said on the show. Tomorrow's World BBC. “It’s not a marriage agency. It’s a new and fun way to meet new people.” He stressed that the service was open to “all people who want to have fun, from 18 to 45,” and added: “People come in Tact for different reasons. Some just want to meet new people and go on dates… some are looking for something more serious, want to create a lasting relationship, and then there are those who want to get married.”

The questionnaire questions Tact were endorsed by psychologist Dr. Salvatore V. Didato, who believed there was “a huge social need” for services like this. He criticized other dating services, saying: “They claim to match people based on many variables, but in the end they only match them based on age, gender, religion, and height, or something like that.” The questionnaire Tact-it went further, including a series of statements with which participants had to agree or disagree. In a BBC report, a typical client gave these answers: “I am worried about my relationships with people – poI like people who openly express love – po. Most of the time I act as an independent person – joI like to go to parties – po".

though Tact was part of a new wave of technology, it wasn't the first computer-assisted dating service. Its two creators were inspired by Operation Match, a service launched earlier that year by Harvard students – decades before other students from the same university created another computer-powered way to connect people: Facebook-un.

In 1965, computers were still a novelty. Operation Match had to rent one of the university's computers for $100 an hour. The service quickly became popular, with thousands of students sending in their questionnaires. "You thought the computer was God, and the computer knew everything," co-creator Jeff Tarr told Witness History of the BBC in 2014. Surprisingly, Tarr's daughter later married one of the creators of Match.com, one of the first online dating sites. The computer offered a sense of security: instead of relying on luck to find the right partner, you could now be algorithmically matched with your soulmate.

The 60s were a time of revolution. In the United States, the civil rights movement and second-wave feminism were at their peak. Social norms were changing, and technology was developing rapidly: the advent of the computer coincided with an increasingly open society. By 1969, computer-assisted dating – or at least the idea of ​​it – had become so commonplace that it was featured as part of an episode of the popular TV series Bewitched. Serena, Samantha's cousin (both played by Elizabeth Montgomery), signs up for a dating service to find a mortal spouse, but ends up being matched with a wizard! Bob Rossi himself found love through Tact-it – although not thanks to the computer. According to an article by The New YorkerIn 2011, he later married a journalist who interviewed him for the project.

Thousands of customers willing to Tact-signaled a departure from the more formal dating culture of the first half of the century and a shift toward more modern attitudes. However, these early computer-based matching services did not last long. While some people found their ideal partner, the services had some fatal flaws. Because the services were aimed primarily at students and middle-class graduates, there was a limited pool of potential matches. The system was also slow and inefficient—it could take weeks from the time you sent in your questionnaire to receiving your matches, who you then had to contact by phone or mail. Parties organized by Tact-i were an attempt to bring those who matched together, regardless of the distances involved. But even that could be awkward. The BBC report noted that “no public relations expert present managed to liven up the party before it got dark,” despite a prize for the most matched couple for “a big night out on the town.” Perhaps the simple banner hanging between two trash cans didn’t lend much credibility to the service!

The questionnaire questions also left a lot to be desired. In addition to the usual questions about demographics and likes, the “dislikes” section included options like “homosexuals” and “interracial couples.” The questionnaire also played with stereotypes: according to The New Yorker-it, men were asked to rank women's hairstyles, while women could specify where they would find their ideal man: chopping wood, painting in a studio, or in a garage.

Although the creators of TactWhile the site prided itself on its “three-tier” compatibility system, its Cupid arrows weren’t always on target. “We matched an older brother with his younger sister,” Ross admitted. “That didn’t go over so well.” He also said there were “some people who weren’t very happy after they went on dates.” In Tomorrow's World, a potential client asked Dr. Didato about the accuracy of the system, after a bad experience with another service: “She specified an age limit and got a man 20 years older”!

Despite the shortcomings of Tactof Operation Matchand similar services, people continue to use technology to help them find love — from newspaper personal ads to video dating services, from online dating sites to artificial intelligence-powered apps. According to a study by Pew Research, one in 10 people who had a partner in the U.S. in 2023 met them through online dating. When it comes to matters of the heart, it seems we can't resist the next innovation. /Telegraph/