Calibre adds AI "discussion" feature

Calibre adds AI "discussion" feature Version 8.16.0 of the calibre ebook-management software, released on December 4, includes a "Discuss with AI" feature that can be used to query various AI/LLM services or local models about books, and ask for recommendations on what to read next. The feature has sparked discussion among human users of calibre as well, and more than a few are upset about the intrusion of AI into the software. After much pushback, it looks as though users will get the ability to hide the feature from calibre's user interface, but LLM-driven features are here to stay and more will likely be added over time. Amir Tehrani proposed adding an LLM query feature directly to calibre in August 2025: I have developed and tested a new feature that integrates Google's Gemini API (which can be abstracted to any compatible LLM) directly into the Calibre E-book Viewer. My aim is to empower users with in-context AI tools, removing the need to leave the reading environment. The results: capability of instant text summarization, clarification of complex topics, grammar correction, translation, and more, enhancing the reading and research experience. Kovid Goyal, creator and maintainer of calibre, quickly voiced approval . He dismissed the idea that it might bother some calibre users and suggested that Tehrani submit a pull request for the feature. On August 10, Tehrani submitted the patches , and Goyal later merged them into mainline after refactoring the code. He provided a description of the additional LLM features he had in mind as well: There are likely going to be new APIs added to all backends to support things like generating covers, finding what to read next, TTS [text-to-speech], grammar and style fixing in the editor and possibly metadata download. Goyal did promise that calibre would " never ever use any third party service without explicit opt-in ". Discuss removing the feature It did not take long after the Discuss feature was released for users to start asking for its removal. User "msr" on the Mobileread forum started a thread to ask if there was a way to block or hide all AI features: I generally find the AI-push to be morally repugnant (among other things, I am an author whose work has been stolen for training) and I hate to see these features creep into software I use. I have zero interest in ever using so-called AI for anything. Goyal replied that the features do nothing unless they are enabled. " The worst you get is a few menu entries. Simply ignore them. " Other users echoed the anti-AI sentiment. "Quoth" said they would not update calibre until the feature was scrapped. " It's a thin end of a wedge and encouraging people to use these over-hyped LLMs, even though off by default. " Goyal replied that it is in calibre to stay: It's not going to be scrapped, so good bye, I guess. You are more than welcome to not use AI if you don't want to....

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