Amazon is integrating artificial intelligence directly into the Kindle reading experience, enabling users to ask questions about the books they are reading. The new feature, called "Ask This Book," is currently available to U.S. users on the Kindle iOS app and is expected to roll out to Kindle devices and Android operating systems in 2026.
"Ask This Book" functions as an "expert reading assistant," allowing readers to highlight a passage and pose questions about plot details, character relationships, and thematic elements. The AI provides immediate, contextual answers without revealing spoilers. It only provides information up to the reader's current position in the book. Readers can also ask follow-up questions.
Amazon states that "Ask This Book" is enabled by default for thousands of English-language bestsellers. The company has not yet disclosed the exact number of books supported. To use the feature, readers can either access it through the in-book menu or by highlighting a passage and selecting "Ask" from the pop-up menu.
The introduction of "Ask This Book" has ignited debate regarding AI and copyright. Amazon has not clarified what licensing rights it is using to enable the tool. An Amazon spokesperson told PubLunch that authors and publishers cannot opt out of the feature to ensure a consistent reading experience. This has raised concerns about the unconsented use of copyrighted works to power AI services. Some worry about the potential for AI hallucinations and whether the text could be used for training large language models.
In addition to "Ask This Book," Amazon has introduced other AI-powered features to the Kindle ecosystem. "Recaps," which provides AI-generated summaries of books, helps readers catch up on storylines and character arcs. Amazon also recently launched the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, the first color-writing Kindle, featuring AI-powered notebooks with natural-language search and AI-generated summaries. Other upgrades include enhanced integration with Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, plus new organizational features like folders.
