Bored? Don’t know what to try next? Use this site

Before we begin I need to admit that I am one of those people who like things that are similar to the things I already like. There are instances when I venture off and try other things but that’s few and far between. So when browsing the internet for something to add to my many lists of media I came across TasteDive.

TasteDive is a site that recommends media that is similar to what you already like and enjoy. There is rarely anything on the internet that is new to people and I am sure there are some among you who were already aware of TasteDive.

What does it do?

Well, as previously mentioned it recommends media that you like or already consume. It is quite broad when it comes to the categories. So those who enjoy reading and are looking for authors similar to your favourites TasteDive can assist. TasteDive also covers movies, TV shows, games, movies and music. Thinking about it now, TasteDive should have been included in the music discovery sites article we put out a few weeks ago.

How does it work?

TasteDive uses Qloo‘s machine learning systems. Qloo is a data science company that uses artificial intelligence to try to understand taste and cultural correlations. The firm offers companies with an application programming interface (API) that will allow companies to understand consumer tastes and affinities. So in short TasteDive uses AI to help map recommendations based on what you enter into the site.

You can use TasteDive with or without an account (opening an account is free). If you are using it with an account you can then like or dislike the recommendations is offers up. The goal of putting in what you like and dislike will help the system better learn things that are more in your orbit.

Did TasteDive work for me?

I have been using it for a little while now and it has been quite consistent. For example when I typed in one of my favourite tv shows “The Boys”, it offered up some suggestions that I had already seen. But there were a number of gems in there that I hadn’t heard of and they will definitely going on my watch list.

It worked much in the same way for music and the other categories. I found it very useful because there are some of those days when I want to watch something but I am in the mood for something in particular. I would usually flip through a bunch of shows sampling but never quite getting what it is that I was in the mood for.

So with this, if I am in the mood for something funny and I have a title in mind for a movie I have already watched. Then I use TasteDive to find what movies are similar to the one I watched, but don’t want to rewatch. It can be hit or miss, for example, one of my favourite crime comedy movies is Martin McDonagh’s “In Bruges“. I tried two of the recommendations from the site. One was “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” which I really enjoyed. The other was called “A Serious Man” which was alright, in my opinion, but I didn’t really like it.

One little reservation

With Artificial Intelligence being used in a number of fields like in this case. There may come a time when AI will have a keener insight into what we really need and want, It’s a little jarring to think that machines might already or sometime in the future, know me more than I know myself.

I still think that this site is worth a shot though. I mean we already we put a lot of ourselves out there on social media and in the search bar. So at least in this case that technology can be used to offer something up to enjoy.