Amazon's Kindle app now offers an innovative AI feature called 'Ask this Book,' which provides spoiler-free answers to questions about the book you're reading. This feature is designed as an 'expert reading assistant' and can answer queries about plot details, character relationships, and thematic elements, all while ensuring that the answers are based solely on the content you've read so far. It's like having a personal chatbot within the book, accessible through the book menu or by highlighting a passage you want to inquire about.
The feature is always on and available to readers who've purchased or rented books, with no option for authors or publishers to opt out. Amazon's spokesperson, Ale Iraheta, emphasized that the answers are 'non-shareable and non-copyable,' adding an extra layer of privacy and security. This new feature was first announced in September and is currently available for thousands of English-language books in the US on iOS. Amazon plans to expand it to Kindle devices and the Android app next year, but a timeline for international expansion or additional languages has not been disclosed.
'Ask this Book' joins Kindle's existing AI-powered Recaps feature, which provides summaries of book series. However, it comes just days after Amazon had to remove error-filled AI recaps from Prime Video, highlighting the challenges and potential pitfalls of AI integration in content creation. This new feature is an exciting development for book lovers, offering a unique and interactive way to engage with their reading material.
