After Artificial Intelligence (AI) in art, music, and films, a little birdie told us about the dawn of AI for matchmaking. To our relief, it’s not the kind that might spook out our 30-something-year-old readers. Engineer-turned-entrepreneur Akshay Ridlan’s new initiative, Milaap Setu, aims to simplify reuniting lost individuals with their families using AI-based face recognition. At a pilot launch in Thane’s Smit Old Age Home and Care Foundation yesterday, Ridlan registered his first few users.

“In this old-age home alone, there are nearly 250 senior citizens who have been displaced from home and spend their day hoping for their families to find them. Some of them don’t even remember their own names or where they came from,” reveals Ridlan. Dementia India Alliance estimates that nearly 1.7 crore Indians will grapple with some form of dementia by 2036.

Akshay Ridlan (left) briefs senior citizens about the platform