Need the perfect flatmate? AI can help
Choosing flatmates can either be an easy process (if you're lucky), or your worst nightmare that comes back to bite you. Now imagine using artificial intelligence to help you find the perfect flatmate. The tech is real, and it's the brainchild of serial entrepreneur Adam Hutchinson.
He has developed a flatmate-finding service called Mogeo, which is an algorithm that matches people to the perfect flatmates.
Like most AI tech, Mogeo learns more about what people use it for. The more people use it, the more accurate Mogeo becomes.
Hutchinson reckons it's a game changer because there's no need for those huge decisions based on a 10 minute meeting.
"The artificial intelligence we're building takes the guesswork out of finding flatmates. All people have to do is fill out a short personality questionnaire and we'll look after the rest to present them with perfectly compatible flatmate options," he explains.
Those questions include personality, hobbies, timetables, and expectations about cleanliness and socialising. There are even examples – one question shows a photo of a kitchen sink and users are asked to rate how clean they think it is.
"We've done months of research to work out what the most important factors are in working out flatmate compatibility," Hutchinson says.
"We're confident our system is already far more reliable in matching good flatmates than a cold 10 minute first encounter, and our goal is to make it the global standard in matching people to live together.
The free-to-use Mogeo can be used to complement the usual flatmate-finding platforms like Trade Me and Facebook. Mogeo users are asked to help by placing feedback on their flatmates' compatibility after a few months have passed.
Hutchinson says that he would like to take the Mogeo algorithm to the commercial sector in future – for example in retirement villages. He would also like to sell the software at an enterprise scale.
"Imagine the potential of using Mogeo in co-living for older people to reduce the pressure on housing and ensuring all the older residents are grouped together with people who share the same interests, similar beliefs, and timetables."
"Or imagine the increase in cooperation among soldiers or sporting teammates on tour who need to share rooms. Sharing the same living space with the right people can drastically improve someone's productivity and happiness.
Hutchinson is the founder of the CamperMate travel app. He is also the founder of GeoZone, winner of the 2015 Hi-Tech Awards (Mobile) and 2017 Innovation Awards (Tourism), which was acquired by Tourism Holdings.
