Independent bookstores in Quebec have teamed up with the network of digital specialists A10s to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered book search tool. This tool, a “reading robot,” is intended to increase the discoverability of literary works on the leslibraires.ca website.
To carry out this project, those responsible have reached an agreement with publishers whose software provides access to their works. The robot goes through the books and identifies everything that is mentioned. He will compile all of this and then build an incredible database to make connections between these entities, explained Christian Roy, co-founder and advisor of A10s, in an interview on the show C'est even better l'afternoon.
Then a reader or bookseller can search for a book based on themes, characters, places, times, or even broader concepts like snow or winter. The robot then outputs its results with supporting book excerpts, which makes it possible to understand the approach to the search terms.
The software will not replace the book trade. There is nothing that can replace human encounters in bookstores, reading books and talking to booksellers. “It is a tool that supports their expertise,” emphasizes Jean-Benoît Dumais, general manager of the Cooperative of Independent Bookstores in Quebec.
In fact, booksellers will have access to a different version of the robot than the one intended for the general public. We can see the result a bit like an iceberg. Booksellers have access to the entire submerged mass of the iceberg. You can see all this data, query it and make very specific selections. And there is the visible part of the iceberg that will appear on the bookseller's website, explained the A10s co-founder.
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Christian Roy is the founder of the technology company A10s.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Raphaël Beaumont-Drouin
This tool makes it easier to find a specific book among all the works analyzed when the reader is missing just a few words to describe it.
Apparently the robot is doing a job that no one could do. [c’est-à-dire] Read through all of these books. “It is a tool that we offer to the general public and booksellers to uncover the topics, organizations and places described in books,” adds Jean-Benoît Dumais.
This project is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. So far the robot has only read Canadian books. We have a lot of digital initiatives these days. “There are many calls from our governments to invest in digital technology to improve the discoverability of books on the Internet,” explains the general director of the cooperative.
It wasn't difficult to convince the publishers. They are more likely to be happy that there are initiatives that allow them to deepen their knowledge of their books, he adds.
So far, around fifty publishers are taking part in this project. Those responsible for this initiative want to attract others.
With information from Julien Fontaine-Doray and Guillaume Dumas