A new AI feature has arrived in the Kindle app that answers questions about the book you’re reading, without giving away spoilers. Amazon calls this feature “Ask this Book,” describing it as an expert reading assistant. It can respond to questions about plot points, how characters relate to one another, and overarching themes, but it will only reference material you’ve already read, keeping spoilers at bay. The tool behaves like an in-book chatbot and can be accessed from the book’s menu or simply by highlighting a passage you want to inquire about.
An Amazon spokesperson explained to Publishers Lunch that responses are non-shareable and non-copyable, and that the feature is available solely to readers who have purchased or rented the titles. The company also noted that the feature is always active and that authors or publishers cannot opt out for their titles.
Initial rollout began in September and is currently available in the United States for thousands of English-language titles on iOS. Amazon plans to extend access to Kindle devices and the Android app next year, though exact timelines for expanding beyond the US or adding more languages haven’t been shared. This feature complements Kindle’s existing AI-powered Recaps for book series, but its introduction comes shortly after Amazon pulled some erroneous AI recaps from Prime Video.
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