HarperCollins introduces Facebook Messenger recommendation ‘bots’

In the US, HarperCollins has introduced bot-powered book recommendation engines to the Messenger feature on two of its Facebook pages, reports Publishers Weekly.

The BookGenie interface is available on the publisher’s main Facebook page and a second bot specifically for YA titles is on its Epic Reads page. The recommendations engines use interactive artificial intelligence widgets to find new HarperCollins titles for readers based on their taste, general mood and past favourite books.

The bots respond to recommendation requests with ‘an animated video image of a comically cheerful female book lover’ who asks the user for details about their mood and literary taste.

Epic Reads senior community manager Margot Woods said the most popular question her team receives is ‘what book should I read next?’. ‘[With the bot] we can scale conversations with our community and engage, share content, and deepen consumers’ connection with our brand,’ said Woods.

Category: International news