Why is matchmaking suddenly a tech category again?

Matchmaking is one of the oldest jobs there is.

For twenty years the internet replaced it with search: filters, grids, you do the work.

Now a dozen products are trying to put a human style matchmaker back in the middle, except the matchmaker is software.

Two readings of that:

• The optimistic one. Search was always the wrong metaphor for people. You can't filter for chemistry, so being introduced by someone who knows both sides is a better model, and AI makes that affordable for people who could never pay a $10K human matchmaker.

• The cynical one. Swipe apps have squeezed engagement dry, so "matchmaking" is a fresh coat of paint on the same funnel.

I lean optimistic, but I hold it loosely.

Which reading do you buy? And has anyone here actually used a human matchmaker, so we can compare to the real thing?

I'm building one of these: https://www.intimid.net