People are reading AI-generated synopses of books and then claiming they read 100 books in a week. This is how the abolition of books began in Fahrenheit 451: classics were condensed into five-minute summaries for those too busy to do the reading. Later came the burnings.
when we read cliffnotes back-in-the-day we knew we were cheating
These nitwits are as bad as those who skip to the last chapters of a book just to see how it ends.
Yo esto ya lo hacía antes de la IA, los botes se champú de toda la vida
Oh gawd no no no
Is this done just to make people angry and get the clicks? Or do people truly think a summary is the same as reading the entire thing? Why bother using AI - just use the blurb?! I'd rather read just one singular book properly for the year than do something like that :/
Tracking number of books read = competitive reading 👎 No thanks Quality not quantity
Yeah I totally stopped tracking what I read now, only concerned with writing notes/sticky notes for books that I feel like need it (1984 is full of flag stickies)
I don't like this idea that tracking means people must only care about numbers. I track my books. I just like knowing what I read when. I don't care how much I read but I like stats and being able to look back on it.
I used the Goodreads challenge after my pregnancy.Reading was my favourite hobby as a kid, but I stopped reading entirely when I was pregnant because I fell asleep after a paragraph. I set myself 10 books after she was born. Now I read 50-70 per year. It does motivate me to pick up a book when I can
I track the number of books I read. I like to have a record of what I’ve read. It isn’t on social media, and isn’t competitive.
Same, Matthew. I list what titles I read each month & note what I liked best & what disappointed me. And it’s all info for *me* because I enjoy seeing what I read each year. No competition & no reading things simply because they’re popular right now. I read what interests me
WHEN I was young, I could read a sci-fi novel in a day, if no school, or maybe 2 school days. I was tested, in high school, at over 2000 WPM (highest the machine could go), with 95% comprehension.
👍
I was wrong: there is a wrong way to read a book.
Lord, if you’re having to read summaries of Colleen Hoover books, things are BLEAK
Exactly my thoughts
She isn’t even reading them, she is listening to them.
Glad I wasn’t the only one who had that thought. Yikes!
RIGHT???
I need about one week to read a book. Sure, you can read a 5 mins AI summary, but what these people are missing, how the story develops. The unimportant things are that what makes up a story.
Tai Lopez was doing this before it was cool.
Because Audiobooks does not exist xD
I hear people talking about how they listen at 1.5 or 2x speed so they can get thru them faster and my head implodes. Maybe I should watch all my movies in fast forward too. Would sure let me binge faster…wait what am I missing? I am just too old for all of this.
They... Had a point, i dont know in other lenguaje, but for me in spanish the normal speed or x1 sound like It is in slowmotion. Maybe its because in my región we use to speak faster but i use to heart between 1.4 and 1.8 for that.
Also, i have zero problem if you hear It im X2 or x3 if you can handle, its the same as readspeed. You can train It
I’m not convinced it’s just the same but what the content is could have a large impact. A technical manual vs Shakespeare. More than words are in involved in some things. Tone doesn’t matter to me when I’m reading ikea instructions but would if I was absorbing many great works of fiction.
but thats is a problems with the narration, not the speed. I can distinguish multiple Tones if the narrator is good. Even if i hear it faster. same as reading faster. I could say the same with one who read a book with 1000 page in a day, Did he enjoy propperly the book more than me who spend a week?
Well problably we enjoy the same, the diference is that he has the hability to spend less time than me on read. if i dont understand some line in the book i can reread it with zero problem as i can rewind the part in the audiobook.
It’s the dystopian Father Guido Sarducci five minute university.
Where's the joy?
The joy is likes and engagement on your self-promotional TikTok! 🥴
That's just endorphins.
What a sad world we live in
💯
Another one was advertising it as an app for people who love to read. Like girl if you loved to read, you would read, this is for people who hate to read but want to pretend to be well read. (Also doing it on Colleen Hoover books is so cooked 🫣🤣)
Ridiculous idea. Like saying you’ve read a book after skimming its “Plot” section on Wikipedia. Or that you’ve seen a movie because someone described it to you.
“Why would I go to the gym when I can watch a 5-minute exercise video while sitting on my ass”
I read her summary of reading the books, so now I also have the experience for reading those books. That’s how this works, right?
There's no need for burning books if nobody reads them anymore.
👀 I'm baffled. This just does not compute. What is the point of that? That's like reading the synopsis of a film and saying you watched it.
In other words: "I watched a slide show about my aunt's trip to France and that's basically the same thing as going myself." Is a factual statement for these people.
Yeah pretty much. I swear these people are becoming facsimiles of humans.
With the economy being structured as it is, delegating every single task requiring experience and expertise to machines and specialists, even relatively easy to learn skills like changing a tire or cleaning a sink, combined with treats being as available as they currently are...
...I'm not surprised people would start delegtaing away all of their cognitive skills and tasks as well. Part of my can't blame them. Hard to work on skills for yourself if you have to spend 70% of your day working for faceless shareholders. Something something, Marx, Adorno, Camus...
The 2015 sci-fi series “Extant,” which explores the concept of facsimiles of humans, is now on Netflix. It is creepy to see how much of the past’s notion of the dystopian future is now becoming reality.
That wouldn't be too different to turning up, looking long enough to point your phone for a photo or film, then moving on to the next "experience".
Because they don't actually get enjoyment from reading -- they get enjoyment from feeling smart by talking about how many books they read.
People claiming that reading a synopse is the same as reading the full book are not even to consider as reader: they're don't read for pleasure of knowledge, but just because it's "fancy". I don't consider them reader, just idiots.
This is not a "real" account, people, there is nothing to comment on here. it's an account with ~13 followers and like 10 posts that are all promoting a book summary app.
We should set this guy on them.
In fairness this idea has been around forever, particularly for business books where a typical book has maybe 3 sentences worth of genuine insight anyway
As many as three?
The @ifbookspod.bsky.social guys figure that most books of that type have about a blog post amount of good advice. Which then gets stretched out to book length, and that when a lot of dreck gets put in.
I’m even more efficient: I have AI read the AI summaries for me.
🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️
Yes, goodreads lists dozens of these ai generated summaries for every popular title as “books” you can claim to have read.
You can just call morons, "morons".
Reading Rainbow is made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the financial support of viewers like you, and by a grant from Kellogg's, who reminds you to take time each day for pretending to have read books you didn't read.
Also? At 12 minutes a piece, 100 books is still 20 hours! I can't imagine how depressing it would be to spend that much time listening to shoddy summaries of books I wouldn't remember. Much better use of that time to read or listen to two or three good books that will stick with you.
TLDR-ing a book will never qualify as having read them. You honestly miss so much context in super-summarizing them. 😅 Like I like watching Summary videos on Youtube for shows I don't have time to see, but would like some context of. But I would never claim that I fully watched them.
Books are for enjoyment and/or education. This is neither. What a waste.
Just look into her eyes: you can see the other side of the room.
She spent more time on her lip liner.
What's the point of this? Specially when talking about fiction.
Instead of helping people suffering from Narcissism, we live in a world that rewards the anti-social behavior it causes
I don’t get it. Good for them I guess? Wouldn’t be me.
I hate whoever these people are. I don’t know how they’re even able to walk upright. Reality is warped.
They remind me of the vacuous people who relied on their assistants to even walk in the right direction on Doctor Who's Dot and Bubble.
I’m going to just assume everyone I ever meet is a complete and utter idiot until proven otherwise
Why read? Offload it to AI. AI will write the books and then it will read them. Sloppity slop slop.
Don't forget they can delegate to an AI to discuss the book afterwards with another AI. Summarise the discussion and just read that summary instead.
Goodreads speed run any%
so have you actually seen any real people do this, or did you see one or two fake rage bait accounts plugging an AI product that no one actually uses
At this point, does that even matter? This shit is taking over so much of creative culture. This can't be good
you're really asking if the truth matters?
And get zero of it. Perfect.
How long are these synopses?
imagine fucking having to listen to a summary of COLLEEN HOOVER
I'm not going to lie, I've read human-written summaries of business books my bosses won't shut up about so I have some idea of what they're on about. But I can't fathom why you'd want that for a fiction or non-fiction book you're interested in? Like short stories and blog posts exist too!
Joy of reading, engagement with characters, and how stories enrich our lives aside, how could you even trust AI to accurately summarise?
I’m a very slow reader. 🙁 I don’t think I could even read 100 books a year. The funny thing is, the more I enjoy a book, the slower I read it. Currently reading this one, and will read paragraphs twice in a row just because I found the words delightful
I love reading and read every day. I don't know whether I'm "slow" or "fast" because who cares? I only manage around 35 books per year, because I tend to read longer, more dense novels and non-fiction that require close attention.
That was literally the book that turned my niece into a reader!
It's such a sweet book about friendship, kindness, loyalty, and self-esteem. With fairies!
i usually read slower bc i want to envision a scene juuusst right lol. im basking in the story, fully immersed.
📌
I'm a fast reader but same about slowing down when it's something I enjoy. Words aren't just words, they invoke mental pictures and it's the journey that matters, not just the destination.
This makes me think of the culinary trend of Molecular Gastronomy, turning food into foams. Nope
Read fast, have to slow down to understand sometimes, every few years or so reread Dog Years by Günter Grass,maybe it’s translation? I need time with it.
Fast reading is great for school, work or any kind of utilitarian texts, but I think is ridiculous if the supposed aim is not just to get the information fast.
I can read pretty fast or quote slowly but agree: the more I'm enjoying a book, I really slow down & re-read passages too, like I'm savoring a delicious dessert. Same for movies or TV shows I really enjoy, I'll rewind and watch good scenes a few times.
Totally!! When I found Jeanette Winterson in the 90s and also read The Hours (Cunningham, 1998), I was constantly re reading paragraphs in blissful disbelief and delight! Books are not plots - they are life-changing worlds, a privilege to enter!! 💕
I don't think I ever finished more than two novels in 12 months, exception being stuff for university. But of the few books I finished over the last 5 years or so, I can remember every plotpoint and can still recite my favourite lines. And I don't I'd want it any other way by now.
Though I have to admit, I'm much faster with Mangas and history/philosophy books, but I guess that comes with my profession.
Yeah, if I love a book I savor it because I don’t wanna leave the world of the book before I have to.
I mean even if you read one book a year so what? - at least you’ve read a book. Instead of whatever this shite is.
I'm a very fast reader and it sounds like you're doing it exactly right.
There was a fifty book challenge going around a few years ago. I found that that just about fit with my usual reading speed, though the real challenge was finishing them all and not losing them halfway through. That, and I read lots of fragments of books - short stories. essays etc.
somtimes it's good to enjoy something slowly and fully enjoy every moments
Same, but wouldn’t trade the handful of books I read a year for whatever this AI thing is for anything. Question: When you read do you have a voice narrating the text to you as you go? I do, and when I have told my partner and other fast readers I know they look at me like I’m insane.
Yes, there is a voice narrating the text as I go. And if it is a fiction book I “hear” the words in different voices. Like a play in my head. It makes the book more interesting and fun to read.
Yup. 100% the same here. I thought forever that that was just the usual, but apparently not so. While I am jealous to a certain degree, mostly I just feel bad for the fast readers. Y’all don’t get to have the fun play in your head?
This does sound intriguing, but as a fast reader, with no voice in my head, it sounds like a drawback, delaying enjoyment of the story through reading being a different medium (a play). I have the fun of reading as reading. I love the variety in how we think and experience reading.
Oh I totally appreciate that. Yeah, it’s apparently a thing. In hindsight I am frankly baffled I was able to complete a college BA in English with honors. Several of my classmates and I must have been approaching the curriculum in very different ways.
Although, now that I think about it, I guess there was a reason I had my concentration in drama. God bless these little guys
Remember the days before AI, when book summaries didn't exist?
remember how nobody read them except students completely uninterested in the material, only in passing a required class?
The 2018 movie adaption of Fahrenheit 451 dealt with this topic too through emojification of novels. Take a look at the image and you have read Melville’s Moby Dick.
It is the Epcoting of literature.
That's pathetic wtf
How incredibly stupid!! These people do not know how reading is defined 😭 & 😡
Why do people think "more books read = more smarter" lmao. This always makes people seem so desperately insecure.
How does this compare to the readers digest versions or cliff's notes? In my day we made similar doom and doom complaints about those. ...LOL this is much worse 😬
I asked an AI to summarize 100 books into a single toot. I think it did a good job: bsky.app/profile/void...
Crazy. Librarian here. Didn't realize reading is a completion. Where do you suppose they are they making their claims? Any place that matters to others or for personal egos?
Nathan's Hot Dog eating competition but for summary-speed-reading.
Hey now at Nathan's they actually finish the hot dogs
100 books a week would be ~14 books a day. Assuming sleeping once a day, that's reading a book every 30 minutes. Impossible, even for Spencer Reid.
I think "books per week" is a silly metric to begin with... There were some weeks I read 100 books as a child (homeschooled, bad Internet connection, went to the library every day) but they were kid books lmao
These are the kind of people who don’t understand life and can’t comprehend the deepest joys. I pity them.
This already existed. It was called sparknotes. Same stupid tricks in a different outfit
Just got this in my feed. Gotta believe it's rage bait for the stitches but I may be giving them too much benefit of a doubt that they're callous and manipulative rather than ignorant.
Violently opposed to all Abrahamic rilijinns here, but if this isn't the END-TIMES....lol
Well, once upon a time there was *Reader’s Digest*. 🤭 Today, there’s AI. 🤣 We might begin calling it “Lia” — as if it were a person… ⛵️
Suggest we call these “slopses”.
Of course it’s a Colleen Hoover book too 💀
I watched the trailer for the movie, that's the same thing as watching the movie
I don't have the heart to tell you about READER'S DIGEST.
🤣 Totally forgot about those! My parents had a bunch.
Cliff Notes--Been there, Done That. And Wiki is free. Audio books, digital books et al. I never read TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD, I went to the movie. Il n'y a pas de livres dans la Biblothèque Nationale? Content, not physicality, is the thing.
Truffaut was the auteur who made movies. Wrote a book once about Hitchcock--another man who made movies by buying a book and then rewriting it to suit his movie. Books are content. Study oral history--survived and wasn't in a book.
...and the mechanical hound
We're going to have to stop making dystopian fiction so to perpetrators dont have guidebooks....
This is one way to subvert the genre. But it’s going to wreck the horror genre.
I figure once I hit 75 years old and the clock is running out, I'm gonna start reading waaaay more Wikipedia summaries of Great Books, but I'm not going to pretend I've actually read the real book.
And? These people are just vacuous show-offs. Ask them to discuss detail - they’ll melt.
Pin 📌
I like how they have reinvented readers digest.
Exactly 😁
This also happened in the 1974 William Harrison's story "Rollerball Murder" that was made into the film Rollerball. The Corporations that run the world digitise all the books, then edit them to suit their agendas...
Lying is an epidemic in this culture.
😢best part of a book is connecting with characters, how that be accomplished in a summary?
The point for these folks isn't to read, the point is social media engagement
Right?!? And even if you know the story, the joy lies in reading it unfold. You may get the what but you abandon the how and why.
And fresh, unexpected or beautiful language—all that would get lost in a summary
100 a week? How can anyone read so many? That’s more than 14 a day. Do they not sleep ? If they’re not cheating & using AI summaries, are they speed reading? I’m a happy & frequent reader but depending on the book the most I could manage by reading all day every day would be 2-3 a week.
"I read 1000 wikipedia plot summaries" doesn't have the same ring to it and "I read 1000 TvTropes pages" doesn't get the same scorn.
Wow, this is absolutely baffling
I went to check the summary for the last book I read "The Will of the Many" and it's hilariously bad. The Wikipedia plot summary is much much better. Who the fuck wants this?
Fuckwits. Lazy fuckwits. Lazy fuckwits want it. Nuke them. From orbit.
“How many books I’ve read” is not a competition. Read one* but read it properly * Obviously if you’re only going to read one, make sure it’s Nineteen Eighty-Four
There is no way I can read 1984 books, I guess I'll have to use the summaries
Why wouldn't you just read the Wikipedia summary?
It’s also a chapter in The Cat Who Saved Books; someone condensing books down to a single sentence
Just finished reading TCWSB for the third time. On a literary, sociological and philosophical level, it's a small masterpiece. I think it should be required reading for, well, everyone...
*moves it up the to-read pile*
Did you know there’s a sequel? I unexpectedly stumbled over The Cat Who Saved The Library at the bookstore a couple weeks ago.
I heard about the sequel! It's on my Must Get list
not only that but using ai to read a colleen hoover book is crazy 💀
Because the point of reading is juicing the numbers.
that's okay we'll prompt the AI to leave that part out of the synopse
Reading an AI summary of Where the Wild Things Are, because it looked a little wordy. What do you mean; there are illustrations (I never looked past the cover)?
It's ironic given they're boasting about this on an app where the whole point is to record every moment of their lives. I'm sure they'd be fine with an AI synopsis of every tiktok or IG they'd ever posted. 🙄
Readers Digest were ahead of their time...
Aw kids, this isn’t new. We always had Cliff’s Notes, we just had the sense not to brag about it.
This only works until someone who has actually read the books starts asking her about it in depth. Instead of being shocked and appalled people start needing to go on the offense and make these people prove their claims.
bsky.app/profile/smbc...
I remember Sky Mall magazines had an ad for cliff notes versions of business books and I always thought it seemed like such a sucker's product.
The cliff's note versions are also a sucker's product.
Suckers all the way down
Honestly, for most business and self help books, the amount of useful information/advice is somewhere between a paragraph and a magazine article.
The issue is, can any particular abbreviated version be trusted to have pulled the actually useful information?
But it depends on the individual, what would be useful or hit home
In many cases it originated with a magazine article or blog post, and when it blew up they expanded it to a book for the $, which is just that article + too many examples. Just go back and read the article.
It's just this, but somehow dumber www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2oN...
Me: "No one was stupid enough to believe this shit!" Sees Rush Limbaugh book: " Oh, ok."
Why not listen to the audiobook lol but I realize the whole purpose is for meaningless clout
I prefer AI synopses of good literary criticism. That way you get both the novelists' ideas as well as the critics' thinking regurgitated through a mindless plagiarism machine prone to hallucination.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
My daughter HAS read close to 100 books a week....so, this is BS. Learn to read for enjoyment instead of as work
Reading can be both.
If you enjoy reading, it never becomes work, even if it is for work
Yes, it does. And it's lying to yourself to pretend otherwise. To enjoy what du are doing just makes it enjoyable work. It doesn't take away the need to be alert, and actively involved, instead of consuming passively. Reading for fun is rest. Reading for work is work.
to you maybe, but, reading of any kind is rest for me. Even reading stereo instructions.
At the point you're doing anything but reading, yet bragging to people you don't know about claiming to read, it really is better to just admit you just hate reading and cannot appreciate the art of the written word. Reading as an act is the process of nuanced discovery that summarisation nullifies.
😳😳😳
She didn’t read a goddamn word about blending lipliner
I know about people who skips dialogue or chapters about characters they don't seem interested. And after they say they didn't enjoy the book, they're asked why and are incapable of giving an argument.
mind-boggling
So sad...
How many people are saying this apart from this one person?
Who's "they"? This looks like rage bait to get people talking about their ai product
Yup. bsky.app/profile/here...
Just because you're not doing this, doesn't mean someone else isn't
