Amazon’s new Kindle characteristic is likely one of the first helpful AI options I’ve seen

Amazon is rolling out a brand-new characteristic throughout its Kindle e-reader line within the US: a ‘Recaps’ device for shortly getting up to the mark on whichever digital guide you have been choosing away at.

Particularly, Recaps makes use of a mix of artificial intelligence (GenAI) and Amazon moderators to supply storyline and character arc refreshers on a per-book foundation. These quick recaps work throughout each bought and borrowed Kindle ebooks, as long as the piece of literary work in query is written within the English language.

“By including a brand new degree of comfort to sequence studying, the Recaps characteristic allows readers to dive deeper into complicated worlds and characters with out shedding the enjoyment of discovery, all whereas making certain an uninterrupted studying expertise throughout each style,” says Amazon in a blog post.

In keeping with the corporate, the brand new Recaps characteristic is now broadly obtainable throughout all Kindle units inside the US. The iOS and iPadOS cellular Kindle app shall be up to date to include the characteristic “quickly,” however there is not any phrase on if and when the Android model of the app shall be up to date so as to add assist.

Amazon Kindle

Amazon’s first-party Kindle app for downloading and studying all of your favourite ebooks throughout your cellular units.

This new Kindle Recaps characteristic represents a genuinely helpful AI use case

I simply hope Amazon’s AI tech has the chops to ship passable abstract outcomes

Pocket-lint / Amazon

Till now, I have been pretty important of most purposes and have units that depend on artifical intelligence to get the job carried out. Whether or not we’re speaking about agentic (assume: digital assistant bots) or GenAI (assume: generative photograph creation instruments) merchandise, I’ve struggled to include AI into my every day workflow to any significant diploma.

Each from time to time, nonetheless, I am going to run right into a hyper-specific AI resolution that merely clicks for me. Not too long ago, these have included Apple’s excellent Clean Up tool, in addition to Google’s fantastic Pixel Call Screen feature. Whereas I’ve but to attempt it out for myself, I’ve a hunch that Amazon’s new Racaps characteristic for Kindle will fall into this coveted class for me.

Amazon likens Recaps to the “Beforehand on…” phase earlier than a TV present, and I believe that is an apt comparability. As a gradual and on-again-off-again reader, I are inclined to lose observe of plot factors and sure character developments after I lastly hunker all the way down to proceed a guide wherever I left off. Assuming Recaps’ AI and human moderation combo is reasonably accurate and in a position to ship stable summaries, I can see myself utilizing the characteristic frequently,

From my perspective, AI instruments ought to work within the background, and they need to resolve issues proactively and with out the necessity for a lot person enter. They should not intention to unravel issues that do not exist, and they need to seamlessly combine into current workflows with no steep studying curve. At first blush, Amazon’s Recaps characteristic seems to suit the invoice.

Associated

Should you upgrade to the latest Kindle generation?

For some folks, it is could a query of switching fashions, not simply getting one thing newer.

Unsurprisingly, Amazon is wholeheartedly embracing AI

The corporate’s new Alexa+ digital assistant is infused with synthetic intelligence

Amazon

It ought to come as no shock that Amazon is making an attempt to infuse synthetic intelligence into its Kindle e-reader ecosystem. The corporate seems to be all-in on AI, embracing the tech in its recently announced next-gen Alexa+ digital assistant.

Large tech firms from throughout the trade are vying for a slice of the AI pie, regardless of issues over waning shopper curiosity ranges, and the opportunity of a dot-com-style bubble-bursting state of affairs happening in some unspecified time in the future.

Amazon’s AI prowess has but to be absolutely put by means of its paces — whether or not we’re speaking about Alexa+ or the brand new Recaps characteristic for Kindle, the corporate is actually working in a cut-throat market. Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta, and others are all closely invested in cracking open the buyer AI market by way of large language models (LLMs) and the like.

I am nonetheless not satisfied that chatbots or generative image-creator purposes are the revelation tech firms make them out to be. Smaller-scale instruments like Kindle Recaps, however, are precisely the form of sprinkling of AI that I believe clients will really make use of and admire.

Associated

Kindle’s surprise page-turning update is actually really useful

Amazon has launched a brand new replace for Kindle units that allow you to flip pages with out touching the display screen.