Article Lead Image

Photo via Matthias Mueller/Flickr

Let Foursquare’s new food bot recommend your next great meal

Don't scroll through an app for dinner recommendations. Just ask a bot.

 

John-Michael Bond

Tech

Posted on May 25, 2016   Updated on May 26, 2021, 5:26 pm CDT

Bots are the future. Just ask Facebook, or your latest Tinder match. Now Foursquare is jumping on the bot train with a restaurant recommendation app.

Marsbot, which quietly rolled out this past week, wants to be your know-it-all friend who always has the perfect recommendation about where to go for your next meal or drink.

Rather than having you manually search through checkins or reviews, Marsbot uses your phone’s location to make recommendations. It analyzes your behavior to learn what you do and don’t like, and you can provide additional details about yourself in the app’s settings. Are you a vegan with a love of coffee? Tell Marsbot.

The app doesn’t notify you and prompt you to open it; instead, it sends you text messages with the recommendations. That way it can quickly and quietly tell you if you’re missing out on a hot Tiki bar in the neighborhood. It’s not there to have a conversation with you; it’s there to quietly tap you on the shoulder and say, “Hey, the bar around the corner might be cool.”

Marsbot is available now for iOS, but only San Franciscans and New Yorkers can play around with it while it’s in a limited testing mode.

H/T Tech Insider

Share this article
*First Published: May 25, 2016, 3:11 pm CDT