Amazon is giving Kindle readers new methods to remain immersed in books

Amazon’s Kindle e-readers have obtained a sequence of notable updates this 12 months, specializing in enhancing the general studying expertise. This contains options equivalent to new spacing choices for characters, phrases, and paragraphs in e-books, in addition to a brand new accessibility instrument referred to as Assistive Reader, which may flip your e-books into read-along audiobooks.

Just lately, at its fall {hardware} occasion, Amazon unveiled its new Kindle Scribe lineup. Quietly, alongside that announcement, the e-commerce big revealed two new AI-powered studying instruments coming quickly to each the Kindle iOS app and its e-readers: Story So Far and Ask This Ebook.

Much like the Kindle Recaps characteristic Amazon launched earlier this 12 months, each options are designed to assist readers keep linked to what they’re studying. Story So Far will assist you compensate for a e book you are studying, whereas the Ask This Ebook characteristic will assist reply questions you’ll have about characters or scenes in a e book.

You will have to attend to attempt Amazon’s new Kindle studying options

How efficient they are going to be stays unsure

If you happen to’re questioning while you’ll get the possibility to check out these new AI-powered Kindle options, Amazon says they are going to be accessible first on the Kindle iOS app “later this 12 months” and on Kindle gadgets “early subsequent 12 months.”

Whilst you nonetheless have to attend to attempt these options, Amazon has defined within the meantime how they are going to work. As I discussed earlier, Story So Far will assist you compensate for a e book you are studying. Nonetheless, it’s going to solely summarize as much as the purpose you have learn. So if you happen to’re anxious about utilizing it and getting spoiled, you will not. This characteristic particularly looks like it is going to be particularly useful for books you might need stepped away from or for titles with excessively lengthy and complex storylines, the place a fast refresher may also help you get again on top of things shortly.

Ask This Ebook is sort of completely different from Story So Far. Whereas it is an AI-powered characteristic that allows you to ask your e book questions, it might not work precisely as you would possibly anticipate. It is not like Google Gemini or ChatGPT, the place you kind one thing in and get a solution about it. In accordance to Amazon, “Ask this Ebook will allow you to spotlight any passage of textual content whereas studying a e book and get spoiler-free solutions to questions on issues like a personality’s motive or the importance of a scene.”

To me, that does not look like you are actually asking questions; quite, you are highlighting passages from a e book you are curious or confused about, and probably getting a solution which may be useful.

After all, each Story So Far and Ask This Ebook are AI-powered, so whether or not they’re really helpful or not will rely solely on how efficient and correct Amazon’s AI engine is. Nonetheless, if it is something like Kindle Recaps, an AI-powered summarization characteristic already accessible on Kindle e-readers and the iOS app, it may very well be overseen by Amazon moderators. When Kindle Recaps launched, Amazon acknowledged that the recaps “precisely replicate e book content material” (through Good E Reader), so hopefully, the identical will probably be true for each of those options.

When it comes to what books you can use Story So Far and Ask This Ebook on, Amazon states it is going to be accessible for “1000’s of Kindle books within the US,” whether or not you’ve got bought or borrowed them. Each of Amazon’s new AI-powered Kindle options will probably be accessible on the Kindle iOS app later this 12 months and on Kindle e-readers, together with the brand new Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, early subsequent 12 months.