Amazon Recap

[Quoth]

Right now just in the USA on iOS. Later on Android and Kindles.
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/boo...ies-refreshers

Some people are deleting the Amazon app.

[John F]

For those that may not want to snap at the bait.

New Kindle feature offers instant spoiler-free answers to questions about your books

“Ask this Book” is now available on the Kindle iOS app in the U.S. for thousands of English-language books.

Ask this Book lets you ask questions about the book you’re reading and receive spoiler-free answers.

So it looks like it is a passive feature?

Some people are deleting the Amazon app.

Why delete the app for a passive feature. I can see the fanaticism against AI, but this seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by John F

Why delete the app for a passive feature. I can see the fanaticism against AI, but this seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

You should see the AI thread in the calibre forum, if you haven't yet...

[John F]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

You should see the AI thread in the calibre forum, if you haven't yet...

Took a look, very interesting. A lot of the same players, although a few new ones.

Maybe it would be helpful to some people to get an AI recap of the link.

Edit: ...

From TLDR:

The document provides information about a new feature called "Ask this Book" that is available for Kindle readers in the US. The feature allows readers to ask questions about the book they are currently reading and receive instant, spoiler-free answers. The feature is currently available on the Kindle iOS app and will be coming to Kindle devices and Android OS next year. The document also mentions another new feature called "Recaps" that helps readers refresh their memory on the plot and characters of a book series. Overall, these new features are aimed at enhancing the reading experience for Kindle users.

1. Where is the "Ask this Book" feature currently available?

2. What is the "Recaps" feature and how does it help readers?

3. When will the "Ask this Book" feature be available on Kindle devices and Android OS?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by John F

Maybe it would be helpful to some people to get an AI recap of the link. :

AI Summery from ChatGPT.

Here’s a summary of the MobileRead forum thread you linked (thread #370992) about Calibre and AI features:

Thread Title: “Turn off/Block AI features (Calibre)”

Date: Early December 2025
Forum: MobileRead (Calibre section)
mobileread.com

Main Issue

The original poster asked whether it’s possible to turn off or block AI features in Calibre — essentially requesting a way to disable any AI-related functionality.
mobileread.com

Key Clarification from Replies

🔹 Calibre does not have AI features enabled by default.
Users responding explained that the core Calibre application only includes AI-related tools if you explicitly enable them — e.g., through plugins or settings you choose yourself. If you never enable those, Calibre won’t use any AI features.
mobileread.com

🔹 AI plugins do nothing unless activated.
Even if AI-related plugins are installed, they remain inactive unless you turn them on or configure them with an API key, so there’s nothing running “in the background” that you have to block.
mobileread.com

Overall Tone / Community Response

The responses were largely factual and reassuring, emphasizing that Calibre’s AI capabilities aren’t automatic and that users need to opt in deliberately.
mobileread.com

There wasn’t a technical workaround needed because no automatic AI behavior exists to disable unless the user set it up.
mobileread.com

Bottom Line

If you’re concerned about AI features in Calibre: you don’t need to disable anything by default. Calibre only uses AI when you manually enable plugins or tools that integrate with AI services.
mobileread.com

If you want, I can also provide info on how to remove or disable specific Calibre AI plugins/settings if you’ve installed them. Would that help?

[drofgnal]

I noticed this yesterday as I’m on a trip and chose to just read on my phone instead of bringing my reader. I haven’t tried it but it could be useful for some books.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

I noticed this yesterday as I’m on a trip and chose to just read on my phone instead of bringing my reader. I haven’t tried it but it could be useful for some books.

And useless for others.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

AI Summery from ChatGPT.

Bottom Line

If you’re concerned about AI features in Calibre: you don’t need to disable anything by default. Calibre only uses AI when you manually enable plugins or tools that integrate with AI services.
mobileread.com

If you want, I can also provide info on how to remove or disable specific Calibre AI plugins/settings if you’ve installed them. Would that help?

It totally misses the point of the thread. It's not about disabling AI in Calibre.

[tomsem]

If only they would fix a glaring bug with the iOS/iPadOS/macOS app: The ALL|DOWNLOADED toggle has not worked correctly for over a year. Any time you go to library, it shows all items in library even when DOWNLOADED was selected. Have to toggle to ALL and back to DOWNLOADED to get it to show what's actually downloaded.

I've been slowly working through a Pynchon novel on my iPad mini but there's no AI recap available for it yet. I could really use one.

[DrNefario]

I kind of assumed that Amazon Recap was one of those end-of-year things that everyone is doing. How much you used amazon services. How many kindle books you read. How much you watched on Prime Video.

I wondered why everyone was suddenly talking about AI.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Quoth

It totally misses the point of the thread. It's not about disabling AI in Calibre.

In your opinion.

[Cactus Chef]

So it's like x-ray (which was human-curated and a genuine value add), but powered by AI slop. Woo...

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

So it's like x-ray (which was human-curated and a genuine value add), but powered by AI slop. Woo...

Human curating is going to get rarer and rarer, unless done by volunteers. AIs will take it completely over from paid workers pretty soon, I guess, because it's cheaper.

That milk ain't going back in the bottle again, so no use crying over it.

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Human curating is going to get rarer and rarer, unless done by volunteers. AIs take it completely over from paid workers pretty soon, I guess, because it's cheaper.

That milk ain't going back in the bottle again, so no use crying over it.

I don't believe that. Fans started dropping Amazon Prime and Crunchyroll when the respective service started rolling out AI-generated subtitles, and in Amazon's particularly egregious case, AI-dubs:

https://www.cbr.com/ai-ruining-anime...ersy-analysis/

The moral component of AI is harder to argue, but the more practical point is simply that AI-generated content is objectively worse. And demanding quality is well within the prerogative of the consumer.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

So it's like x-ray (which was human-curated and a genuine value add), but powered by AI slop. Woo...

I've never seen any evidence of human-curation in amazon supplied x-ray files.