SAN FRANCISCO - NEW online service Hunch wants to help people make up their minds about anything from dumping a boyfriend to choosing a car or getting a piercing.

Launched in March by Flickr co-founder Caterina Flake and a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates, Hunch.com uses machine learning to guide people to decisions that seem to suit them.

'It's a cruel world out there,' the New York City-based Hunch team said in a message viewable at the website on Thursday.

'Coin-flipping, I Ching consultation, closing your eyes and jumping, postponing the inevitable, Rock-Paper-Scissors, and asking your sister are all time-honoured means of coming to a decision - and yet we think there's room for one more: Hunch.'

A Hunch engine uses machine learning technology to come up with insightful questions, the answers to which lead to a personally tailored recommendation regarding a path to take.

Algorithms basically try to deduce the best question to ask next to figure out an optimal solution.

'In 10 questions or less, Hunch will offer you a great solution to your problem, concern or dilemma, on hundreds of topics,' its creators promise.

'Hunch is designed so that every time it's used, it learns something new. That means Hunch's hunches are always getting better.' The more people that use Hunch, the more the decisions will develop regarding the tastes and preferences of different kinds of people.

'It may not be awesome yet - a lot of people have to contribute to it before it knows much of anything,' Hunch creators said in the message.

'But it will be awesome later. Love it anyway. Love it now.' -- AFP