United Kingdom, July 29.- However, this technology also raises questions regarding copyright, remuneration for authors and publishers, and the legal limits of using protected works to train or feed AI systems.
Some authors' organizations warn that these tools could set problematic precedents if implemented without authorization or compensation for creators.
With these new platforms, ebook or audiobook users can access a conversational robot (chatbot) with which they can exchange messages as they progress through their reading.
"You interact with the book as if it were alive; it is a completely different experience," says Ahmed Kamel, CEO of Sinai.ai, a platform currently in the testing phase.
Readers can explore a character's psychology, the historical context of the plot, or a philosophical concept without needing to leave the work to search for additional information.
The French company My Smart Book launched a proposal similar to Sinai.ai's, based solely on the content of the book.
Amazon, the American multinational that began as an online bookstore, has joined this trend. Its audiobook company, Audible, launched a feature called "Ask a Question" in the last quarter of 2025.
Users can ask questions, receive answers, and resume listening exactly where they left off.
An Audible spokesperson told AFP that the tool is designed to answer questions about the audiobook the user is currently listening to.
Amazon's ebook platform, Kindle, has a similar feature called "Ask this Book.
"And ElevenLabs, one of the most promising firms in the field of AI voice technology, created "ElevenReader Voice Chat," which, it claims, "turns any book into a two-way conversation."
– Who gets paid? –
The question of who has the right to develop these services and who receives the revenue from them remains one of the most debated points.
Sinai.ai claims that it only works with public domain books or works for which it has authorization from the author, their heirs, or the publisher.
Another company, iChatbook, takes a different approach.
"Our conversational book is not a library of books; it is a library of concepts, ideas, and data," explains its founder, Brian Yang.
Instead of reproducing the original text, this AI summarizes and explains its key ideas. And because it never directly quotes the book, it avoids many copyright-related headaches.
However, not all platforms act with the same care. Some, such as Myreader, allow users to upload any book, whether or not it is protected by copyright, and then connect it to an AI interface.
NotebookLM, Google's popular tool—recently rebranded as Gemini Notebook—also does not filter by copyright. The same applies to BookWorm AI, a ChatGPT-based tool presented as a "reading companion."
Sinai.ai claims to have created what it calls "AI rights," a system that remunerates authors and publishers when a chatbot uses their work.
The company also states that it is negotiating with several of the major American publishers, such as Hachette, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster,
HarperCollins, and Macmillan.
None of those five major publishers responded to AFP's inquiries regarding their AI plans.
"We have signed agreements with numerous publishers in the United States and with major names in the Middle East," said Kamel.
Not everyone is enthusiastic about this technology.
In December, the US authors' guild, Authors Guild, harshly criticized Amazon's "Ask this Book" tool, considering it sets "a dangerous precedent."
"It has no legal authorization to use content, it does not generate additional revenue, and it does not offer publishers or authors the possibility to opt-out of the system, let alone the possibility to opt-in voluntarily," it emphasized.
(Taken from Cubasí)
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