The Future Of Books
What will happen to books in the age of artificial intelligence? Will they cease to exist entirely? I am speaking particularly about books tied to specific domains such as history, physics, chemistry, psychology, and similar subjects.
Today, if you are curious about any topic, past or present, you can turn to an AI tool and ask it to explain the subject at your current level of understanding. You can move from elementary physics to advanced quantum theories while maintaining a sense of progressive learning.
Before AI tools became mainstream, you needed dozens of books to refine your understanding. You had to seek recommendations, compare authors, and often waste time navigating conflicting explanations. Today, access to knowledge depends largely on how many tokens remain in your AI subscription.
I anticipate a sharp decline in conceptual books that remain vague or introductory. Most people would rather ask an AI tool what something means than work through a four hundred page book.
Unless, of course, the book addresses an extremely specific subject and is written by a true master of the field.
Experts will never be replaced. Generalists will.
Those who have genuinely mastered a domain will continue to be valuable because they offer actionable insights. This also implies that purely theoretical works will see reduced demand. History is a prime example.
To become well versed in Egyptian history, for instance, one would traditionally need to read ten to fifteen books by different authors. You would have to engage with competing arguments, assess conflicting interpretations, and synthesize them before arriving at a coherent understanding.
AI tools have largely bypassed this process. Instead of working through multiple books, they can present a consolidated narrative that includes competing viewpoints from various perspectives. This has reduced friction dramatically. You no longer need to spend years developing expertise in a single subject. In many cases, a few days or weeks are sufficient.
Another advantage of AI tools is their ability to synthesize historical knowledge with present day events and present it as a coherent line of reasoning. From there, you can build your own perspective.
Does this mean theoretical books have lost their value? The uncomfortable answer is that they will certainly be affected. As with everything else, it ultimately depends on what readers want. There are enough people in the world to support every niche. There will always be readers who seek a human perspective from a perceived authority in a field.
Subjects that lack actionable insights can be replaced by AI systems that efficiently collate and summarize information. Subjects that require practical insight, are written by domain experts, or take the form of memoirs will continue to thrive. Books like Atomic Habits will keep selling because they offer concrete, experience based guidance from the author.
Some readers do not mind consuming insights from AI tools. They value information over the medium that delivers it. For them, AI will likely replace books.
There is a positive side to this shift as well. It allows greater focus on books that are truly irreplaceable. The works that survive the rise of AI will likely become the classics of our era.
It also frees up time to read great fiction, poetry, memoirs, and works written by genuine experts.
Whether we like it or not, the question of books being replaced has an answer that feels increasingly inevitable. Authors will not disappear. Books will continue to sell, but the audience will change.
And once again, market forces will determine which kinds of books get published.