Kindle and Audible AI book chat tools raise author concerns over copyright and pay

AI reading tools are allowing users to ask questions about books and audiobooks while they read or listen, but authors have raised concerns about consent, licensing and payment.

Amazon’s Audible has introduced “Ask a Question,” which lets listeners ask about the audiobook they are hearing before continuing playback. Kindle offers a similar feature called “Ask this Book” for questions about plots and characters.

Other services include Sinai.ai, French startup My Smart Book, ElevenLabs, iChatbook, Myreader, Google’s Gemini Notebook and BookWorm AI.

Sinai.ai chief executive Ahmed Kamel said the platform, which is being tested, allows users to treat a book “as if it is a living object.” Sinai.ai and My Smart Book say their chatbots use only the book’s text and do not add outside information.

The main dispute concerns who authorises the use of a book and who receives payment.

Sinai.ai says it uses only public-domain books or works approved by an author, estate or publisher. It also says it has created an “AI rights” system to pay authors and publishers when a chatbot uses their work.

Other services use different methods. iChatbook says it extracts and explains ideas without quoting directly from a book. Some tools allow users to upload books without checking their copyright status.

Kamel said Sinai.ai was communicating with almost four of the five largest US publishers and had signed agreements with many publishers. None of the Big Five publishers responded to questions about their plans for AI tools.

The Authors Guild criticised Amazon’s “Ask this Book” feature in December, saying it was not licensed, generated no additional income for authors and publishers, and offered no system for them to opt in or out.