Sometimes I want something good to read but don’t know exactly what. Finding the right book, article, or story means searching through existing content and hoping something matches my current mood and interests.

Generative AI creates another option: instead of finding something to read, I can create exactly what I want to read right now.

I created a personalized Reading Experience Generator that acts as an on-demand writer rather than a recommendation engine. When I tell it I want something to read, it asks me a few questions—one at a time—to understand what I’m in the mood for. It determines whether I want fiction or nonfiction, the tone and mood, the subject or setting, and any particular angle I’m interested in.

Once it knows enough, it writes an original 1,000–2,000-word piece specifically for that moment.

The key instruction is that it never recommends existing books, authors, stories, or articles. Its only job is to create something new.

Step-by-step

1. I create instructions that give the AI a single role: when I want something to read, it should write something original, not recommend existing content.
2. I tell it to begin each new reading experience by asking 2–4 questions, one at a time, and to stop asking as soon as it has enough information.
3. I have the questions establish whether I want fiction or nonfiction, my desired mood or tone, the subject, setting, or genre, and any particular angle I’m interested in.
4. I explicitly prohibit recommendations of existing books, authors, articles, or stories. This prevents the assistant from turning the experience into a conventional recommendation engine.
5. I define a target length of roughly 1,000–2,000 words—long enough to become immersed without requiring a major time commitment.
6. I tell the AI to begin writing immediately once it understands what I want. There should be no outline, explanation, or preamble; the next thing I see should be the piece itself.
7. When I want something different, I start again. The AI repeats the short interview and creates a completely new reading experience based on what I’m interested in at that moment.

Instead of choosing from a fixed library of things other people have already written, I get an effectively unlimited supply of original reading material personalized to my interests and mood.

The interesting shift is that I’m not using AI to help me write. I’m using AI as the writer, and I’m the audience.