The famous authors with AI reading companions

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Contrary to what you might be led to believe by mainstream media coverage, not all artists are scared of AI. In fact, many are embracing its potential to create more engagement with creative arts – and they’re lending their talents to the development of AI models designed to do just that. 

Including the famous authors and their management agencies who have agreed to let Rebind AI turn their books into conversations – with an AI-powered e-reading app that enables readers to read with the support and engagement of an AI companion. 

How does it work? 

You pick a book you’ve always wanted to read (as long as it exists in the Rebind library, of course), and then you meet your ‘Rebinder’ – the companion that will be at your side throughout your reading journey. You meet that Rebinder first through video content, and then at pivotal moments in the book you can have a chat with them; to talk through your impressions, what you understand and don’t understand about the text, and more. 

You’re encouraged to ‘read actively’ by jotting down notes as you read – and those notes then help to personalise your ongoing conversation with your Rebinder. 

When you finish the book, you’re invited to write a reflection on the experience too. 

What books are available on Rebind? 

So far, Rebind is a Beta Waitlist stage. But the books already on the system include: 

• Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
• James Joyce’s Dubliners
• Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
• F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

And a (currently limited) range of other classics. 

It’s designed to promote careful, deep reading

The app promises to change the way you read – enabling you to enjoy complex texts with the support of your AI companion, and engage in careful, deep reading and reflection. 

We think it’s a nice idea: using intelligent technology to enable more people to really enjoy classic literature and benefit from the insights and experience that reading can offer. 

Oh, and we love this account by Laura Kipnis for Wired of her experience of becoming a Rebinder. 

Will it limit readers’ personal experiences of each book? 

With the app as yet unavailable for public use, we can’t share any firsthand experiences. The question that keeps coming up for us is whether the Rebind perspective on the books will influence the readers’ experience in a restrictive way. 

Instead of being free to read and explore the depths of their own emotions and insights, they’ll be guided to feel and think certain things as they read. And the beauty of art is that perception is everything; every person gets to experience the work in their own way. 

But then again, if the people who use it would never have read those books without the app, then…does it really matter?

Join the conversation 

Do you think an AI companion would enhance your reading experience, or hinder it? Tell us what you think – open this newsletter on LinkedIn and share your opinion in the comment section.

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