Reading stuff isn't that hard or unwelcome?

[Echobelly]

Obviously, caveat for people with specific difficulties like dyslexia etc, but in a world where AI keeps popping up to tell us it can save us reading a whole email or article... is reading a short form text really that hard or time consuming? I don't think I've ever come across an email so long that it merited summarising and where I might as well just read it, and actually reply myself.

And longform text like books is ... meant to be read in full? Reading a summary of a book is pointless and boring and won't stick in your mind. I mean, at the end of the day, I get that reading books is just not everyone's cup on tea, my oldest isn't really a reader though they're still a high achiever at school, it's just not their thing. I think it's the short-form thing that puzzles me a bit.

Are younger people finding it hard to read text? Is it because they have no attention span, or just they are growing up with a message that reading anything, even an article or email, is tedious, dull and time consuming? Either of which I'd find sad.

I'm noticing a bit of a return back to reading physical books.
In the past decade at DCs' activities parents (including me) have entertained themselves by scrolling on phones, but the last couple of years have seen more paperback books.

There's one activity that DS does where it's not worth going home so I take my book to the pub over the road and relax with a (soft) drink. Since starting that a couple of years ago, it's got me reading at home more.

My DCs are both dyslexic and find reading stressful rather than relaxing. DS1 has a thirst for information, but the depth of information he craves would be very dry reading and I'm glad that he lives in an era with geeky youtube videos. His knowledge has always been praised by his teachers.

Tip do Google - if you insert a random swear onto the search, AI will not respond.

E.g. "when does the fucking zoo open"

@EscargotChic I'm the same, I hate videos. I often look up recipes and these days the majority of replies are video links to someone making the thing with that stupid jaunty music. To me a recipe is a written instruction, read quickly and glanced at every now and again to confirm. I wonder is it because I grew up before videos were a thing, it worries me that younger generations won't be able to read recipes or whatever without an instruction video. I know that recipes won't have much impact on their lives but the skill set involved is what could be lost. Reading instructions for exams or DIY or medicines etc.

AI can be a total menace. I hear that lawyers are making a nice living nowadays disentangling the messes people get into by using AI for legal advice and legal letters.

Also if you add -ai to the end of your search

Ah, that's how it was sold to us! It used to be automation will set workers free from drudgery and we will have loads of extra time! Instead jobs were automated and jobs vanished. Now it's AI will do your drudge work but will take all that pesky imagination and human interaction away because it just gets in the way, doesn't it?

Agree @EscargotChic - I would rather read instructions on 1-2 minutes than watch a 5 minute video. By all means there should be both options because video works better for some people, but we seem to be moving towards making text harder to find and video the default.

I recently started a new job and all of the new starter training I had to do was via videos; either someone talking with subtitles, or text on slides with a voice over, all with irritating, jingly music in the background. At least some of them could be speeded up and muted so I could just read the information.

Yeah I do the same if there is a text option!

To repeat a MN cliche...

first post nails it!

We are playing with fire with AI.

I agree, I find it very annoying to be forced to watch podcasts, short videos, etc., rather than having a document (print or online) to read. It takes so much more time watching someone basically read it out to you, than it would take to read it yourself. I actively avoid doing it now. If I have a choice, I simply won't use services that only have the option of watching short videos for training etc.

In my business, I have the option as to which softwares we use and recommend and have recently stopped using/recommending one popular software package because they moved over to fully podcast style training and support webpages. I've moved over to one that offers that AND pdf training materials as well as a proper support website with webpage articles you can actually read!

We really shouldn't be constantly dumbing down - especially apparently lots of people now need someone to read things to them, such as "how to" articles - I thought most of us grew out of wanting to be read to when we were about 3 years old!!

I was thinking it would be good to see a human-centric search engine, rather than ones that try to make humans search-engine-centric. One where you can say; I want my information in text form, not videos, I don't want any content flagged as AI, I want recommendations based on sites where people have rated a service/good.

There is this too. AI has no idea what it's saying. I've asked it to summarise things and it can be utter nonsense.

This is going to sound utter wanky but I wonder what Shakespeare would make of AI?

Oh my god this is genius!

Only offering videos is actually discriminatory (especially if you can't turn jingly music off, but even without that) because it isn't accessible to people with hearing loss or auditory processing disorders (or indeed to visual learners).

I retain information I've read significantly better than information I've heard, and struggle with the linear nature of video (I need to skip backwards and forwards - I read very fast and this is still quicker than watching or listening to the same information, as well as being retained and understood better - this is pretty common, especially for certain neurodiverse people and people with hearing loss and auditory processing issues).

You can turn the AI email summary offer off completely in the Gmail settings btw. This is a good idea for data protection anyway, because consenting to the AI assistance is also consenting to access to the contents of your emails and calendar.

I am the same. I need explicit written instructions. Even better is being shown in person so you can ask questions.

That's exactly the monetisation model of Instagram, no? You scroll, view, like. More likes = generate an income. I can't stand it.

I actually unfollowed everything apart from 50 actual friends. What's fascinating is what that has done to my feed. I obviously stop and watcvideoeos of babies more as my feed is full of them. However, having done that, I can't think of a single thing where I'm like oh I must go and look up or follow X on Instagram.

I've concluded it's not adding anything to my life and plan to delete it.

I don’t think reading was always ‘niche’ at all, since the advent of free education.

Or even before. Dickens died in the year compulsory (but not yet free) elementary education was introduced in England. His magazine serials, books and public readings were mass popular entertainment.

There will come a time (it may already have happened) when an entire thread on MN will be written by AI.

Well, I'm a big reader myself. In fact, my starting point on Mumsnet was the Book forum. And I'm horrified in the drop in reading for the general public. Even in forums, just as a matter of practicality, I prefer links to articles rather than to video, because I can skim in seconds and don't want to be bothered sitting through a video.

I similarly laugh at the way various advertisements - for anything - try to convey that it's giving you something previously unavailable. Long ago, there was a lemonade mix that came out, and I remember a mocking reference to their commercial which implied that prior to this new product, it had been impossible to make lemonade.

I wonder if you'd have a bigger discussion of your post in the Book forum...?

I think I'm taking more about reading other than books, like the idea that reading emails (which are general very short anyway) is too much effort.

I think AI (with fact checking other summaries on the side) are great for books you don't want to read but want to know what they are about/ have to read for school. My son who will go into y8 has summer reading obligation of 4 books which is great. One of them was extremely tedious and used obsolete language and went into extremely detailed description so I ended up reading it to him because he was just lost (a good student). He didn't have any problems with the wizard of Oz, a Jack London novel, a Sherlock Holmes novel but Jules Verne needs to be edited because the writing is fantastic at times, the story captivating but unfortunately it often derails in detailed descriptions which just makes the text very dry. I ought to have let AI do the summary...