GetNavi turns five years of articles into a reader advice chatbot

Cartoon · AI-generated
One Publishing’s new chatbot answers product questions using its archive and online information, while tracking reader interests to guide future articles and advertising.
One Publishing has added a generative-AI chatbot to GetNavi web, its publication covering products and consumer trends. The company says the tool, formally introduced in November, draws on the site’s articles from the past five years as well as information available online to answer readers’ questions.
The chat window can be opened from a button fixed to the bottom-right corner of every page. Readers can ask questions such as how to use an air conditioner while keeping electricity costs down, or which wireless earphones might suit exercise. The system then generates a conversational response.
GetNavi web editor-in-chief Kunio Sakata said the exchanges could give the publisher a more detailed picture of readers’ interests than conventional search data alone. Unlike search queries, he noted, a conversation can develop through follow-up questions. The chatbot may also bring older stories back into use by drawing on them when preparing answers.
One Publishing says it plans to review the questions and interaction patterns collected through the service when planning future articles and developing advertising products. The company presents the tool as a way to make its existing archive more useful while gaining insight into what readers want to know.
Before the launch, the publisher tested the chatbot with members of the GetNavi Salon reader community. One participant reportedly went on to buy a product. Another, who asked about AI-enabled earphones, valued receiving advice that took account of equipment they already owned and helped them weigh whether a purchase made sense. These accounts are the company’s description of the trial, rather than an independent evaluation of the service.
One Publishing also intends to offer the approach to other organisations with their own websites, content libraries or product information. It says the GetNavi web deployment will help it build experience in using AI to connect audiences with material held by publishers and businesses.
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Source: Noah Wire Services · Original