More and more people admit to using AI to summarize books
Marcos, a 21-year-old student, acknowledges that it costs him “a lot” read a book whole because he can’t find “neither the time, nor the way, nor the desire.” That is why he uses AI when he needs to read a text or book for class. “Who hasn’t used it today?” he asks. For her part, Raquel, 24, also relies on artificial intelligence tools when she doesn’t have the time or “inclination” to read. She admits that she has sometimes felt that by using AI she was missing out on a story that she might like, but she doesn’t regret doing it—and she’s sure she will do it again. Neither Raquel nor Marcos believe that using these types of tools is dangerous or worrying, they simply consider it a change like any other in their generation. “It’s not that shocking, generations simply change, we read differently. We are a generation that reads through mobile phones and technological devices,” explains Marcos. The search for shortcuts not to read It is not something new or exclusive to current generations. Students have always found ways to avoid books and get by on assignments or exams: copying summaries already made by publishers, asking a classmate for an explanation, or resorting to platforms such as Vago’s Corner. With the advent of AI, not reading is even easier. A search on social networks is enough to find dozens of publications with recommendations of applications, websites or AI tools that “promise” those who use them not need to open the book. Under titles like “Do you find it difficult to read books due to lack of time? I share 4 IA that read for you (and improve your understanding)!”, tools are released that summarize any text or book, and that are also capable of creating mental maps, presentations, videos or even podcast (in case you don’t even have time to read the summaries). Ok boomer. (Clay Banks/Unsplash) On these same platforms, young people express the relief they feel at not needing to read when they don’t want to. A Tiktok user He suggests in his videos that he is “happier” for not having to “read 765 pages of a PDF”, since he only reads “the summary and the flashcards” that an application creates for him. “Spanish people are reading more and more” AI has become another accessory in our daily lives, a tool that we use for more and more things. We have verified its potential by solving operations or programming, but also by writing and summarizing texts. From there a question arises: if artificial intelligence can write, summarize and even tell us stories, can AI replace reading? For now, in Spain, no. The statistics of reading in our country reflect a growing interest in reading in almost all age groups: the percentage of Spaniards who read in their free time This 2025 has exceeded 65% for the first time, breaking the myth that young people no longer read —75.3% of the population between 14 and 24 years old read in their free time. This good reading health coexists with a new reality: young people incorporate artificial intelligence into their daily lives with astonishing naturalness. According to the report This is how we are. The state of adolescence in Spain, by Plan International By 2025, 62% of girls and 59% of boys between 12 and 21 years old surveyed use AI to resolve questions related to their studies. In fact, 68% of them and 61% of them fear “developing a certain dependence on this technology.” Reading, therefore, does not disappear, but it begins to share space—and time—with a tool that can replace, complement or transform the way young people relate to it. AI’s abilities to write texts are already well known to users. teachers. What, according to Patricia Sánchez, a Language and Literature teacher at an institute in Leganés, is beginning to worry them now is another, less visible effect: how it can affect to development of students to delegate tasks such as reading, understanding or interpreting a text to the AI. “At certain ages there are tasks that we should not leave in the hands of technology,” says the teacher. Don’t ask him where he gets the summary of the book, mind you. (Emiliano Vittoriosi/Unsplash) Teachers like Sánchez warn that using AI to read, summarize or write instead of doing it yourself—especially at an early age—can slow down the development of fundamental skills such as reading comprehension, writing or analytical skills. Sánchez sees it as problematic that “they do not acquire certain skills”, that “they do not make efforts, that they do not make mistakes and therefore are not able to solve them.” Organizations like the UNESCO or the World Economic Forum They point out how delegating activities – such as reading – to technology can affect memory and learning ability. According to a analysis According to researchers at the University of Chile, the “passive use” of AI tools like ChatGPT can “undermine the very foundations of literacy.” The authors recognize that AI has a great potential in the educational field, but they warn of the need to work and “practice intensely with written texts” in order to develop “good reading comprehension and writing skills.” They agree with Sánchez that with reading we not only acquire information, but it is key to strengthening vocabulary, comprehension, reasoning and critical thinking. According to researchers, “reading acts as a workout for the brain.” The CEOs who no longer read Sánchez is not worried that his students have not read Bohemian lights; He is concerned that in the future they “will not understand” a news story when they read a newspaper, or that it will be more difficult for them to “understand the world in general, have the patience to stop, think, assimilate, be able to create an opinion…”. This is why a good use of technology must have a “prior basis.” Once the basic competencies and skills surrounding reading have been acquired, for Sánchez AI can be an ally. … Read more