Kindle Reading: With the release of a new feature that would allow users to ask questions about the book they are now reading using artificial intelligence, Amazon seems to be preparing for a significant shift in how consumers use their Kindle.

The function, called “Ask This Book,” is supposed to allow users to highlight any word in a Kindle e-book and do quick research on that material without switching between screens. The function is meant to help readers better comprehend storylines, characters, or parts of a book without taking away from the experience, according to a report by publishing trade journal PubLunch.

How This Book Is Asked

This function is exclusive to the Kindle iOS app. By selecting Ask This Book from the in-book menu, picking a highlighted passage, and then selecting one of the recommended questions or creating their own, users may access it. Furthermore, conversations are advanced by asking follow-up questions using the same message box so that the AI may get answers according to the book’s content.

Although the number of books that support Ask This Book has not been disclosed by Amazon, it seems that thousands of English-language best-selling books have already been enabled.

In 2026, a larger rollout is planned.

Amazon is reportedly working on a strategy to mass adopt this capability by 2026, even though it is not feasible with the existing Amazon Kindle devices or the Android application. When it is done, it may be one of the most significant functional improvements since the Kindle was released.

Author, publisher, and associated stakeholder concerns

The publishing industry has already expressed some worries about this function. It seems that publishers and writers have no say in whether or not their books are eligible for the Ask This Book function. “The feature is always on, for the purposes of ensuring the reader experience is consistent, and authors or publishers do not get to opt titles out of it,” an Amazon representative said to PCmag in response to this problem.

This is particularly important in light of concerns over the prevalence of huge language model hallucinations and the current spike in AI copyright infringement claims. There are still a lot of unresolved issues around accuracy, training data, and licensing rights.

The Kindle’s Hardware Advances Continue

Amazon is also improving its tablet selection at the same time with the Kindle series. A new Kindle Paperwhite with a 7-inch screen, a smaller shell, and improved performance characteristics was just released by Amazon for the Indian market. It still has a 300 ppi glare screen, which is intended to make reading on paper comfortable.

As part of its strategy to combine reading, writing, and AI-based interaction, Amazon is also releasing a new Kindle Scribe that can be used with a pen and has a color screen for the first time. Despite the lingering concerns around intellectual ownership and AI reliability, “Ask This Book” has the potential to drastically change how readers engage with books as it expands in popularity.