Amazon has launched a new AI feature in the Kindle app that gives spoiler-free answers to questions about the book you’re reading, and confirmed that authors can’t opt out from the feature.
The company calls Ask this Book an “expert reading assistant” in its announcement, and says that it’s capable of answering questions about “plot details, character relationships, and thematic elements,” all while avoiding spoilers by limiting its answers to content from the pages you’ve read so far. It’s essentially an in-book chatbot, accessible from the book menu or by highlighting a passage of text you want to ask about.
Amazon spokesperson Ale Iraheta told Publishers Lunch that the answers are “non-shareable and non-copyable,” and only available to readers who’ve purchased or rented books. Iraheta also said that the feature is always on, noting that “there is no option for authors or publishers to opt titles out.”