Reading in the AI era

When answers are available instantly does reading matter as much anymore?

We think it matters more.

Not skim reading the quickest summary. Sitting with a book, following a story, understanding what is happening, and thinking about it from beginning to end.

That kind of reading gives children more than information. It builds attention, language, confidence, imagination, and the ability to think deeply.

The Grattan Institute’s Reading Guarantee report says a third of Australian children cannot read proficiently. In a typical classroom of 24 students, that means eight children are struggling to read well.

This is not just a reading problem. When a child cannot read fluently, they can be locked out of almost everything else that happens at school. They may not be able to follow instructions on the board. They may get lost in a workbook and sit through lessons confused, embarrassed, or pretending they understand.

It can start early. A child can arrive at kindy full of ideas, energy, and confidence. Then sounds and letters don’t click. Books start coming home in the school bag, but opening them feels like failure so they refuse to even try. By Year 1, a child who is bright, curious, and capable can already begin to believe that reading is not for them.

For many families getting a child to read out loud is a daily battle.

One-on-one tutoring works because a tutor can notice when a child gets stuck or slows down. A tutor can give feedback and help them try again.

That is the part of AI we are interested in at Joey Books. Not replacing teachers or parents but making more patient practice available to more children more often.

Reading aloud is so important. You can hear hesitation, guessing, skipped words, repeated attempts, and moments where a child may need help.

That is why Joey Books Read Aloud Mode matters.

We have been thinking a lot about where AI might actually help with reading.

A recent Harvard study, summarised by Axios, found that students using a carefully designed AI tutor learned significantly more in less time than students in an active learning classroom. The study was with college physics students, not young children learning to read, so we should be careful not to stretch the conclusion too far.

The research is encouraging, but we are trying not to get ahead of it. The useful lesson is not that AI replaces teaching. It’s that well-designed feedback matters.

For Joey Books, the book still has to stay at the centre.

Today, Joey Books is a digital read-to-me library of high-quality children’s books. Children can listen, follow along, and spend time with real stories in a calm reading environment.

What we are building next is Read Aloud Mode. Read Aloud Mode will let children read aloud at their own level and get feedback from Joey, their reading buddy.

Our goal is to give children a patient, encouraging, non-judgemental companion that helps them practise, repeat, and keep going when reading feels hard.

A child is not compared to anyone else. They are not rushed. They are not made to feel silly for getting a word wrong. They get support in the moment they need it, and they build confidence little by little.

Building this is not simple. The product challenge is not just hearing whether a child said a word correctly. The hard part is deciding what to do next.

Feedback has to help without taking over the story.

It has to be immediate, but it cannot interrupt every sentence. Correction has to be useful, but it cannot feel discouraging. Repetition has to build fluency, but it cannot feel like punishment.

The experience has to be simple enough for a child to use on their own, while still being thoughtful enough to support real reading growth. This is where the product design matters as much as the technology.

A reading buddy should know when to help, when to wait, when to encourage, and when to let the child keep going.

We are also thinking carefully about fluency. Speed matters, but it’s not the whole story.

We don’t want children racing through books. We want them to read with accuracy, confidence, expression, and understanding.

That means Read Aloud Mode should support fluency and understanding, It should not be a race.

Reading is not only saying the words correctly. Children need to understand what they are reading. They need to talk about stories, notice details, make connections, and think about meaning.

We do not want Joey Books to become a quiz machine or replicate worksheets from a classroom.

We want to help children engage with books in a way that feels closer to a good conversation. The kind a great teacher or parent has with a child at the right moment. A question that helps them pause. A prompt that sends them back to a page. A small nudge that helps them notice something they missed.

That is what we are working towards.

Children do not read like adults. They pause, whisper, guess, self-correct, repeat sounds, laugh, skip words, and read in different accents.

That matters because Read Aloud Mode has to be humble. It should support the messiness of learning, not punish it.