The Times of London and Twipe are developing a “digital butler”, called James, to boost subscriptions. The system is a self-learning algorithm, which will offer subscribers the content most relevant to them. The newspapers have won $1.2bn in backing from Google’s Digital News Initiative, which is aimed at helping European publishers develop new technologies. James will absorb as much of subscribers' data as possible. Nine people from the News UK data science team, and Belgian digital publishing company Sunday Times, will develop the app. Phased tests are set to be rolled out within the next six months.
The Times of London and Sunday Times are developing a “digital butler”, called James, to boost subscriptions. The system is a self-learning algorithm, which will offer subscribers the content most relevant to them. The newspapers have won $1.2bn in backing from Google’s Digital News Initiative, which is aimed at helping European publishers develop new technologies. James will absorb as much of subscribers' data as possible. Nine people from the News UK data science team, and Belgian digital publishing company Twipe, will develop the app. Phased tests are set to be rolled out within the next six months.