Philaude

Philosophy is a notoriously difficult genre for casual readers to breach. It is a body of knowledge spanning over centuries, which unfortunately brings with it all the archaic, outdated language of yore. Yet, contained within these dusty old tombs are precious concepts and theories that have shaped the underlying fibres of our culture. My question was thus: How can we bring these ideas into the modern age, while still preserving the author’s original words? Philaude (short for “philosophiclaude”) is an AI-powered reading assistant that aims to lower these barriers of entry. This project uses Claude AI’s language processing and large context capacity to make philosophy classics accessible for modern readers. The web app includes an in-page EPUB reader alongside a chat window, where users can supplement their reading page-by-page through questions and helpful discussions with the AI. With a digital bookshelf full of public domain works, users can save their progress in the database and continue from where they left off. Targeting laypeople and casual genre enthusiasts, this approach offers real-time support for understanding complex concepts and historical references without losing the original author's voice. Future features envision expanded reader functionality, cross-book concept connections, and AI customizability to suit diverse user experience levels.