Amazon has introduced a new AI-driven reading assistant called Ask this Book, aiming to help Kindle users seek answers about a book without encountering spoilers. This feature is designed to provide spoiler-free responses specific to the reader’s current position in the text, covering plot details, characters, and themes. Ask this Book operates as an in-book chatbot that responds only with information from the pages read or text highlighted by the user, ensuring that no spoilers from unread portions of the book are revealed.
To use Ask this Book, readers can access the feature by highlighting a passage or utilizing the in-book menu within the Kindle app. They can then choose from suggested questions or input their own queries to receive tailored answers. Currently, Ask this Book is accessible on the Kindle app for iOS in the United States, with plans for expansion to Kindle devices and Android in the coming year. Although a global rollout timeline has not been disclosed, the feature already supports a wide array of English-language books.
Amazon has confirmed that authors and publishers cannot opt out of the Ask this Book feature. According to Amazon spokesperson Ale Iraheta, this AI chatbot will remain enabled, with answers deemed “non-shareable and non-copyable,” exclusively available to readers who have purchased or rented books from Kindle. Ask this Book complements other recent Kindle features like Recaps, which assist readers in recapping storylines and character arcs to facilitate resuming series after breaks.