Are AI book summaries worth it?

[AION]

The newest models of Claude have improved a lot. It makes almost perfect summaries. I know this because sometimes I read a chapter and then read the summary and it is just perfect. Obviously some books need slow digestion but let's be honest, most books are don't need a slow digestion.

I'm surprised that not more people are doing this. I'm doing it with pop culture books just to get the meat of the book but who says you retain all the information when you read the book anyway? Most books are filled with fluff and nuisance that I forget what the main talking points are in the book.

I'm doing the same with youtube videos. Most guys take 20-40 minutes to just talk about a lousy talking point droning on and on about the same talking point wasting people's time because they think are so special and everybody should listen to them. Just feed it to claude 4.6 and then take that text and feed it to elevenreader (voice mode) and you will have a much fruitful experience.

And the most important point is this, you can't interact with a book or video but you can interact with AI in the sense of asking questions and making remarks. That is how you learn: by interacting with the matter, not just consuming like a drone.

Edited 9 hours ago by AION

[UnbornTao]

To me, a good book deserves some real study. If I want it summarized, then it wasn't that great from the beginning and didn't deserve my time. That said, it depends on the book and what you want to get out of it. If it's simply information you're looking for, then AI is probably a good tool for that.

[SimpleGuy]

If you really wanna learn something, you are better spend intimate time with your book reading, instead of watching or reading summary. 

[AION]

With just reading a book, learning is very shallow. If you really want to learn, you need to be in interaction with it, ask it questions and shit. And a book won´t answer your question. Reading books is for boomers. There is much more effective methods with AI interaction.

Edited 6 hours ago by AION

[Oeaohoo]

1 hour ago, UnbornTao said:

To me, a good book deserves some real study. If I want it summarized, then it wasn't that great from the beginning and didn't deserve my time. That said, it depends on the book and what you want to get out of it. If it's simply information you're looking for, then AI is probably a good tool for that.

I agree with this.

The idea of reducing books to summaries stinks of an unhealthy obsession with productivity and efficiency at the expense of everything else.

28 minutes ago, AION said:

Reading books is for boomers.

Soon people will be saying: “Using words is for stuffy boring Boomers, I’ll stick to my emoticons!”

Edited 5 hours ago by Oeaohoo

[AION]

2 hours ago, Oeaohoo said:

I agree with this.

The idea of reducing books to summaries stinks of an unhealthy obsession with productivity and efficiency at the expense of everything else.

Soon people will be saying: “Using words is for stuffy boring Boomers, I’ll stick to my emoticons!”

Reading a book is very primitive. Do you think people will read books in 100 years? Your boomer habits will die with you. There are much more fruitful and interactive ways of learning than just consuming. Questioning, talking and debating with AI is the way to go. 

[AION]

I mean how much do you retain after a whole ass book? It is not super high. 

[UnbornTao]

Imagine using that method with the Tao Te Ching or something similar. It could be useful but there's something lost in trusting AI and essentially putting responsibility for understanding onto an external agent. It requires a leap of faith that the AI will get the communication right - and with certain books, it may fail spectacularly. There are books that are meant to be studied and contemplated, not just read. 

[gettoefl]

Do I want the product or the process. Depends on the day of the week.

[Oeaohoo]

2 hours ago, AION said:

Reading a book is very primitive. Do you think people will read books in 100 years? Your boomer habits will die with you. There are much more fruitful and interactive ways of learning than just consuming. Questioning, talking and debating with AI is the way to go. 

I hope you are tied up high up in the mountains and an eagle pecks away at your liver for all eternity. 

That is the price you might one day have to pay for your Promethean mentality!

Edited 24 minutes ago by Oeaohoo

[AION]

Most authors are shit. Even more than AI. I would argue that this year AI got better than most authors. But that is just one part.

For example you are reading  Peter Ralston. Can you ask him questions? Can you make remarks to your book and will it respond to you? No and no. But if you upload it to AI you can ask questions, contemplate with AI and it will actually stick.

Just reading a book won't make it stick. Reading is very one dimensional and I believe very soon reading books will be seen as something primitive and backwards.

If you are that pig headed you can still read the god damn physical paper book as the caveman you are and afterwards you could ask AI to be Peter Ralston and pick your mind. Or you could hire Peter Ralston himself and pay 20k for his personal coaching.

Obviously I'm little exaggerating a little bit here to make a point. There are few exceptions where books are needed. But I do believe most books can be gamified with AI and that is the best way of learning.

This counts for Leo too. He makes 3-4 hour videos and he thinks that is appropriate. Nobody is going to retain anything from those videos. Especially if it is not indexed and if it doesn't have a table of content. Retention is very minimal. But if you can extract the transcript feed it to AI, it is like you are talking to Leo and you can actually learn something by interaction.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by AION

[Oeaohoo]

22 minutes ago, AION said:

Most authors are shit. Even more than AI. I would argue that this year AI got better than most authors. But that is just one part.

Why even bother with “most authors”? We should be concerned with the few authors who are really worth reading. Most good authors have a distinctive style which will be lost in summation. Besides the need for productivity and efficiency, this mentality is also a symptom of a lack of aesthetic sensitivity.

23 minutes ago, AION said:

For example you are reading Peter Ralston. Can you ask him questions? Can you make remarks to your book and will it respond to you? No and no. But if you upload it to AI you can ask questions, contemplate with AI and it will actually stick.

I agree with this but I don’t see the two as antithetical. You can read the book and also use AI…