The previous WeChat reading has updated a book translation function, making it possible to read the original books directly. Now the AI+Reading+Official Account article has been updated late at night, and the effect is even more explosive. What is the imagination space of this AI questioning function? Let's take a look at the author's interpretation.
Do you usually use e-books to read?
I think most people are similar to me, when they see their peers and celebrities recommending good books, they quickly go to the platform they are familiar with to find out if there is an electronic version, and after finding it, they either download it or add it to the bookshelf and look back.
But let's be honest, do we really have time to read a book in its entirety? The probability is small.
Even if you have time to read, it will take a long time to face a thick e-book, and the content of the book is not all dry goods, and sometimes it takes time to sift through the information.
So what to do? As I said, I used to use the search method.
For example:
Let's say I want to get to the bottom of a question, such as "consumers' feelings of uncertainty." First of all, I will write down the questions first, and when I have time, I can turn on the computer and use the search engine to enter keywords, and I can see a lot of related content research.
However, when I still want to know about the concept of consumer psychology, which top scholars have studied it before? Is there a consensus among scholars? Where can I find it?
At this time, I will use WeChat to read books, type "consumer psychology" into the search box, and the system will display multiple books that include this topic, indicating which chapters, paragraphs, and sentences are mentioned.
That's what you need to read. Searching is useful for people who do research. However, there is a problem with this: WeChat Reading will still present a lot of content, and it will take time to sift through it. Is there a faster way to solve it? Of course.
Yesterday, WeChat Reading was quietly updated with a new feature: AI Ask Books.
1. What is AI Questioning?
To put it simply: WeChat Reading has added an AI search assistant, and the assistant can find the answer you want in a large number of books; All you have to do is ask a question or type in a search and it will automatically get you back.
A month ago, I tested the function in grayscale, and my friends around me had an experience, but I thought it would be over, but I didn't expect it to be launched in the past two days. At present, the PC side has not been launched for the time being, and if you want to experience it on the mobile phone, you can update the WeChat reading version to 8.2.0.
What should I do if I want to use WeChat Reading AI to ask books? What exactly is it for? Don't worry, I'll say them one by one.
Remember two things first:
For the former, first of all, open the WeChat reading APP, find the book you want to read, such as "Poor Charlie's Treasure Book", and then, click in to read, next to the table of contents on the left, there is an AI outline, a little easier, it will help you sort out the book based on the outline, all the underlined and dry goods parts are sorted out.
I tested it, and it wasn't perfect, but it was pretty helpful for a quick desire to read a book.
If you want to read which paragraph, you can just click to jump, and when reading, if you encounter some different words or complex concepts, as long as you long press the word or sentence, the system will pop up a menu. You select "AI Question" in the menu, and the AI will quickly give you a detailed analysis and explanation of the system.
(1: Long press the word, the menu pops up AI question)
I think this feature is very similar to Feishu's corporate encyclopedia, which is quite useful.
Do you know?
In the past, when I encountered nouns and concepts that I didn't understand when reading books, I would go to Baidu and Toutiao to search for them. You have to switch screens every time. Sometimes, during the search process, it is easy to get distracted when you see other interesting content.
Now, solve the problem directly in WeChat reading, if there is anything you don't understand, you can get the answer by pressing and searching.
When I get the answer, if I want to know more about a question, I just click on the link and I can jump directly to the specific content page of the relevant book, so that I can further explore and learn the knowledge.
It's a lot more convenient, and this feature kills three birds with one stone. One, to ensure my flow moments; Second, give accurate answers; Third, link to other books within the ecosystem. This is book-driven, to put it simply, with a book as the center, using AI to ask questions.
Second, how to do problem-driven?
Literal thinking must have been understood by you. That is: to find the answer with a question.
After the update, the WeChat reading app does not have a "AI ask" button by default, but don't worry, you just need to ask questions according to the regular search method.
For example:
I now want to figure out what the "mirror me effect" means? I want to know its definition, development history, and what other psychologists have proposed and discussed, what should I do?
All I had to do was open the search box and type in the keyword "mirror effect". On the right side of the page, a "AI Ask" button will appear. With a single click, information about the definition of the concept, its implications, limitations, etc., will be listed.
(2: Enter a keyword in the search box, and AI will appear in the menu bar)
Best of all, the answers are not only accurate, they're also very convenient.
Isn't it amazing? It also automatically elicits questions and stimulates innovative thinking, which are AI-generated and helps me think and explore more deeply.
The design of this feature seems to be inspired by the "theme reading" in "How to Read a Book", but it is implemented in a smarter way, not only limited to one book, but can quickly summarize the content of all related books in WeChat Reading.
When you encounter complex or diverse topics, you don't need to turn the pages of the book to check it yourself, AI Ask Book helps you do it well, and skip directly to the relevant chapters, making it easy and efficient to explore the topic.
As a result, any questions I had during my reading were answered immediately, which greatly improved the coherence and depth of my reading. That's it, the problem-driven approach, with the problem with the AI, is really helpful.
Many people don't know that WeChat reading can browse articles, and the content they are interested in only needs to be moved in and out of the bookshelf.
There is also a "bad idea": I tested it yesterday, and uploaded the files on the computer and the official account I liked to WeChat Reading through the PC side, and I also used AI to ask questions, and it can also be realized.
The idea can be described as a king-fried combination, you can imagine, if I import all the articles about a certain type of research in batches, what will the AI get? Isn't it amazing?
Therefore, whether it is "book-driven" or "problem-driven", it has three functions:
Master the core, can use it with ease, you can think, what can it bring you? In which scenarios do you use it?
When we get a new feature, there are always benefits and disadvantages. In my opinion, this deficiency can be described in one word: the flexible castration version. What does that mean, you may ask? Why? Still flexible or castrated?
Yes.
On the one hand, when I search with questions, although AI Q&A can automatically recommend some light pipe questions to me, I can't set these questions myself, which makes me feel that I have this function, but I can't adjust it according to my needs, like, it's cut in part.
On the other hand, the success of the ecology is also the ecology, WeChat reading content, with copyright awareness, it can only search for recommended answers according to the words I choose, and those that are not in WeChat reading naturally can't be given.
Like what:
What is Cunningham's Law when I enter it? It shows that there is no answer. Moreover, the answers to some of the more complex and abstract questions are not good enough.
Therefore, there are certain restrictions on content and search. Sometimes, the follow-up questions that are automatically generated by the system are not quite what I need
I believe that the technology will become more and more perfect, and the WeChat team will also work hard to improve it, maintain the functional advantages while adding more personalized settings, and make AI questioning more flexible and diverse.
Although there are still some places that need to be improved, there is no doubt that it is a revolutionary new feature, and platforms such as Get, Secret Tower AI and other platforms have tried similar functions, but WeChat has a large number of content resources, so it can bring greater impact, which can definitely be described as small actions and large variables.
Do you know what technology is used behind the AI question?
It relies on a technology called "RAG" (Retrieval Enhanced Generation), which is part of Tencent's large model of Hybrid Assistant. Sounds high-tech, right? It's not hard to understand.
Searching, as the name suggests, means searching, just like we look up something online; Enhancement means that it is not just a simple search, but also more intelligence; Generate and give the desired answer based on the information you find.
On the internet, there is as much information as the stars, and RAG technology is like a super-smart librarian. For example: help you filter out false information, outdated information, content using non-authoritative sources, etc., so that everything you see is reliable.
In addition to this, RAG has another benefit, which is called: traceability.
Not only does it keep the information current, but it also links directly to the most up-to-date information sources. For example, when you want to know the latest research or news, it can be provided immediately, making the answer more convincing and useful.
This technology allows the language model not to be isolated. They can be integrated with a large knowledge base to provide more accurate, fluent, and informative answers, whether it's answering professional questions or completing professional writing tasks.
This is, cognitive breakthrough.
To put it in layman's terms, imagine a person who used to learn to only read books, but now he can not only read books, but also look up on the Internet, and sift books, and check and digest while learning, isn't it a big upgrade in cognition? This is the breakthrough of RAG technology.
Well, that's a bit much.
However, as far as the WeChat reading "AI asks" function is concerned, it is worth experiencing. In the era of AI, it is more important to be able to ask questions than to be able to solve problems, and asking questions can stimulate thinking, challenge existing cognition and opinions, and continuously improve thinking ability.
In the process, they also exercised the skills of analyzing the essence of problems and exploring ways to solve them, which may be the key to human progress and development.
Columnist
Wang Zhiyuan, public account: Wang Zhiyuan, the author of the best-selling book "Compound Interest Thinking", everyone is a product manager columnist. Internet scholars, left-handed technology Internet, right-handed individual cognitive growth.
This article was originally published on Everyone is a Product Manager. Reproduction without the permission of the author is prohibited.
The title image is from Unsplash and is licensed under CC0.
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