New ways of reading books

[Anand S]

I'm using AI to read books by:

• Summarizing. This tells me what the books is about, the key points it makes and the main takeaways. It also helps me decide if I want to dig deeper.
• Fact-checking. I can find mistakes, alternate perspectives, and biases. That's a huge win!
• Re-authoring. I can write it in the style of Malcolm Gladwell, Randall Munroe, Richard Feynman, or anyone else I like. Makes dense prose much more enjoyable.

So far, I've applied this at different levels - and I'm sure there are more possibilities:

1. A book. I can summarize & fact-check books like How Not To Die and learn what's really established.
2. A chapter. I can turn each chapter of Primo Levi's The Periodic Table into a Randall Munroe article that makes me laugh.
3. A sentence. I can take a single proverb like 忙しいほど幸せ or a Kural like அடக்கம் அமரருள் உய்க்கும் and turn it into an essay that makes me cry.
4. Multiple books. I can compare and fact-check multiple books on the same topic, e.g. Make It Stick, A Mind for Numbers, Ultralearning, and How to Take Smart Notes.

But I suspect this is just the beginning. AI opens up many more reading styles. For example:

• Reviews over time. Could we read Lolita along with the 1950s interpretation, the 1970s feminist critique, the postcolonial turn, the contemporary reassessment? Understanding how meaning evolves over time?
• Character story. Reading just the sub-novel of a single character, e.g. Hoid across the Cosmere?
• AMA with the author. Interpret what the author might have meant or said, e.g. What caused the quake in Arelon?

We should be mindful that artistry is not understanding. Assessing, teaching, applying, debating, ... these are better tests. But accessibility, enjoyment, and novelty are meaningful too. Let's go exploring!

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From: s-anand.net