I use it to get recommendations for what I'm reading next based on what I've liked and dislked. Seems to be working..

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sage all shit threads

>>24832116
One thing that's useful is to get background information on the book you're reading. For example, I didn't know that Machiavelli wrote The Prince just a year after the Medici's returned to power, fired him from his high ranking post, tortured him, and then exiled him to a farm outside the city. He wrote the book as a kind of job application, dedicating it to Lorenzo de' Medici, and trying to prove his expertise and value to the new ruling family. At the same time, it's clear that he was satirizing the titular Princes (not just Lorenzo but also e.g the Pope) at the same time. The cynical tone of the book also makes a lot of sense when you consider the political climate of 16th century Florence, with its constantly shifting alliances, mercenary armies, larger foreign powers invading, etc. /lit/ would call me a retard for not knowing all of this already (and I am) but its nice to be able to get all of this context with just a short text chat, with the ability to go deeper on whatever I want. For example, the aforementioned mercenaries, the condotteri, would often prolong wars by colluding with the mercenaries on the other side. Machiavelli despised them (hence his exhortation to found a citizen-militia in the book). Many weren't even Italian. The most famous, John Hawkwood, was actually English.

When reading War and Peace, I found it really helpful to have the AI separate the actual IRL characters from the fictional ones. I knew about the obvious ones, Napoleon, Alexander I, Kutozov, but not General Bagration or Count Rostopchin. I also didn't know that Natasha was based on Tolstoy's own wife and her sister. Or that Nikolai was based on Tolstoy's father. Learning a bit about Tolstoy's life and the history of the time period in which he wrote the novel was also illuminating. I didn't know that it was written during the emancipation of the serfs, for example (which caused a huge upheaval in Russian society). That explains Tolstoy's romanticism and idealization of peasants (e.g Karataev) vs. his demonization of existential European philosophy among the aristocracy.

For writing it can be quite helpful in finding logical inconsistencies or plot holes. You simply have it pretend to be a pedantic beta reader and have it generate the questions the reader might have based on an outline or direct snippet of your manuscript. Another useful thing it can do is provide "mundane" details about a foreign setting. You can ask it about, for example, marriage customs in 11th century Mongolia and learn that the bride and groom would walk between two bonfires, then the bride would bow to the hearth of her new family's yurt and then her hair would be parted in the style of a married woman. Or ask about the popular brands in 60's UK and learn that the Austin 1100 was the most popular family car and that the Goblin Teasmade was a popular alarm clock that also made tea. Details like this are useful for verisimilitude.

I just prompt "what should I know before reading X book, without spoilers". It usually gives historical context and some hidden simbolism to watch out for. It's been nice, but I wonder if I'm being biased before reading

Why do you keep making this thread over and over again?

>>24832241
This is a very good use of an AI. I see a lot of people hating it, but as tool or research assistant it can be very useful.
People who use it for writing full paragraphs or summarizing entire chapters are still retarded though