NEW YORK — Imagine a world where you could ask a book a question as you read it.

That’s the pitch from a wave of new AI tools letting readers do exactly that. “You are dealing with a book as if it is a living object — it’s totally different,” says Ahmed Kamel, CEO of Sinai.ai, a platform now in testing.

With these tools, users get access to an e-book or audiobook alongside an AI chatbot. Confused about a character’s motives or the historical setting? Just ask.

Readers can dig into a character’s psychology, historical context, or a philosophical concept — no separate research required.

French startup My Smart Book launched something similar in mid-April. Like Sinai, its chatbot draws only on the actual text of the book — no outside information.

Even book-selling behemoth Amazon is in on it. Its audiobook company, Audible, launched a feature called “Ask a Question” last fall.