Artificial intelligence contributes to people reading less, experts warn

The increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini is raising concerns among experts about their impact on reading habits. While AI is not solely responsible for the decline in reading culture, its tendency to provide summarized content is leading users to spend less time with books, potentially hindering critical skills like learning, memory, attention, and deep understanding.

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AI contributes to how much people read. I used the word 'contribution' specifically because it contributes to people reading less.

Linguist and author Susan Baron from American University notes that reading has transformed significantly over the past decade, but emphasizes that reading physical books still fosters better focus and learning. She observes that AI "contributes to how much people read" by encouraging less reading overall. Baron points out that the decline in readership began before AI's widespread adoption, cautioning against blaming AI exclusively.

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We miss the opportunity to benefit from reading original works, which offers many benefits. It is a source of relaxation, a way to reduce stress. It is a way to escape to other worlds, to identify with people who live or do not live or have never lived elsewhere.

Baron highlights that individuals are increasingly digitalizing their reading habits, leading them to miss out on the benefits of engaging with original works. These benefits include relaxation, stress reduction, escapism, and developing empathy through identification with characters. She warns that over-reliance on AI could diminish the motivation to read altogether. Furthermore, Baron draws a parallel with social media platforms like TikTok, which have already reduced attention spans, suggesting that AI-generated content and recommendations further exacerbate this issue.

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AI is not preparing the end of reading, but it is leading to the shortening, narrowing of reading, or the decrease in the value we place on reading.

Daniel Willingham from the University of Virginia's Psychology Department echoes these concerns, noting that people are increasingly accepting AI-generated answers without consulting original sources. He finds it particularly worrying that users often accept AI responses without knowing their origin. This reliance on AI summaries, rather than engaging with full texts, could lead to a shallower engagement with information and a reduced capacity for deep thought.

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Now we don't even look at websites. We accept the answer from Gemini AI to our search in two-thirds of our searches. This is even more worrying because we don't even know what the source is.