One of the touted benefits of AI tools like Microsoft CoPilot (this kind of tech will be ubiquitous soon) is the ability to summarize information so you don’t have to read as much. “Summarize this email.” “Summarize this document.” “Give the pertinent points and action items from these meeting notes.”
I study many book summaries. Generous reviewers on Amazon.com will summarize the key points of a book. You can quickly get the gist of the author’s intent and style. It’s a great gauge to deciding whether the book is worth reading.
Be mindful of the limits of summaries and abstracts. CoPilot is unlikely to spot tone and small points in email messages that should speak strongly to you, because you have human context and information outside of the email itself. The word ‘abstract’ comes to English from Latin and means “to pull away from.” You’re dropping significant information volume to create an abstract – and a significant fraction of what’s dropped might be significant to you.
Also, don’t underestimate the intellect-strengthening aspect of reading full works. Exercising your mind pays dividends. Reading and pondering the full Shakespeare play will transform you more than cribbing from the Cliff’s Notes summary and commentary.
Use summaries and abstracts for their limited utility without depending upon them as a full substitute.
