When anyone can write a book, more people will. More topics, more perspectives, more niche knowledge that was previously locked inside practitioners’ heads. But what about the top — the works that change how we think? AI has had access to virtually all of human knowledge for three years now. It has not produced a single original explanation for any unsolved problem. What does that tell us about the future of books?

For five thousand years, books have done something no other technology has managed: let you enter another person’s mind and reconstruct their thinking in your own. In 2026, the most powerful technology we’ve ever built communicates the same way — as a chain of words on a screen. But in a world racing toward interfaces that bypass text entirely, will the book survive?

There are two ways to know a book. One changes how you think. The other gives you answers to concrete problems. Most people drift toward one or the other. Combining the two is where you stop consuming knowledge — and start creating it.

There are two ways to know a book. One changes how you think. The other gives you answers to concrete problems. Most people drift toward one or the other. Combining the two is where you stop consuming knowledge — and start creating it.

A new AI tool exploded this week – 100,000 GitHub stars, Mac Minis selling out, three name changes in seven days. But unlike most tech hype, OpenClaw might actually deliver on a promise we’ve been waiting for: AI that gives you time back instead of stealing it.

My books should work for me. Not sit passively in highlights waiting to be searched, but actively remind me of what I’ve read in the right moment, suggest connections I haven’t seen, and help me apply what I’ve learned to real problems. Here’s how I built that system with Claude Code.