Reader Bot: What Happens When AI Reads and Why It Matters

by Naomi S Baron

What happens to human reading when AI bots can do it for us?

  Explosive developments in artificial intelligence have awed everyday users with the technology's ability to draw, do computer coding, and especially to write. Those AI-generated essays and poems, legal briefs and responses to requests for information are all visible evidence of large language models at work. What we don't see is the critical prior before it can write, AI needs to read.

  While AI's written outcomes are remarkably similar to what a diligent student, lawyer, or researcher might produce, AI doesn't read the way that humans do. Now that AI is proving an adept reader, what happens to our own reading skills and motivations—especially at a time when both voluntary and school reading are increasingly on the decline? We have learned that when we let chatbots write for us, there are pros and cons to handing over our virtual pens. It's critical that we also think through the consequences of relinquishing reading—a deeply human activity—to bots.

  What do we stand to gain and lose when we let AI read for us? Tracing the intersecting trajectories of AI and reading, Reader Bot tackles this vital question, revealing why we must be thoughtful about how we welcome AI-as-reader into our lives.

292 pages, Hardcover

Published January 20, 2026

Reviews

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading, as in for pleasure, is empirical to being a good citizen and a good person. No argument. We read to empathize with fellow human beings, fictional and otherwise and the struggles and pleasures that come with it. As of right now approximately 54% of adults in the US struggle with everyday reading tasks and 21% of adults are illiterate (wtf) I’m not even concerned with “everyday reading tasks.” What about misinformation, reading nutritional labels, reading medical instructions, understanding semantics, relating to others through letters, texts, messages. And what will OVER HALF of Americans turn to? generative artificial intelligence to read for them. This is a huge problem not only for the environment and the marginal populations that will be affected (hint we ALL will be affected) but for brain development, mental health, relationships, and so much more. This delved into the definition of reading, what makes someone a reader, and how AI “reads” text. The format hinted at high school level persuasive essay but with such a dense and often, philosophical, chapters, keeping it organized and concise was key.

[Tara]

Reader Bot is a timely, lucid, and deeply thought-provoking examination of a question most discussions of AI overlook: not what happens when machines write, but what happens when they read. Naomi Baron brings intellectual clarity and human urgency to a subject that sits at the intersection of technology, cognition, education, and culture, arguing persuasively that reading is not a neutral preprocessing step but a profoundly human act with cognitive, emotional, and ethical stakes.

What makes this book especially compelling is Baron’s ability to translate complex technological realities into accessible, nuanced insight without alarmism. She carefully distinguishes how AI “reads” versus how humans read, and why that distinction matters for motivation, comprehension, empathy, and critical thinking. As voluntary reading declines and AI mediation increases, Reader Bot challenges readers, educators, policymakers, technologists, and everyday users alike, to reconsider what we risk losing when we outsource interpretation itself. This is not a rejection of AI, but a call for intentional coexistence. An essential read for anyone concerned with the future of knowledge, learning, and human agency.