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The 10 Best AI Summarizers
Publish date
Sep 18, 2024
AI summary
The document outlines key considerations for selecting and using AI summarizers, emphasizing the importance of user-friendliness, flexibility, accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and user reviews. It highlights features of PDF.ai, such as chat interaction with PDFs, tagging for organization, and multilingual support, which enhance productivity. Best practices include setting clear goals, reviewing AI-generated summaries, leveraging customization, and ensuring data privacy. Common pitfalls to avoid include over-reliance on AI outputs, neglecting customization, and failing to verify summary accuracy. The document concludes with a step-by-step guide for effective summarization using PDF.ai.
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Consider you’ve just opened a vital PDF file. You quickly discover it contains hundreds of pages of dense text. As you glance through the first few pages, your heart sinks. You don’t have time to read this document in full. You just need its key points to help you complete a project, and you need them fast. Does this scenario sound familiar? Thankfully, if you had an excellent AI PDF reader, it could quickly analyze the document and provide an accurate summary of its contents. In this guide, I’ll introduce you to the best AI PDF reader tools on the market. These apps will help you quickly extract the information you need from any PDF document to get your project back on track.
One AI summarizer that can help you with this task is PDF.ai. This tool summarizes PDF documents so you can learn about their contents without reading them thoroughly. With this app, you can ask questions about a PDF, request summaries, and even get help writing a response or report based on the information within.
What is an AI Summarizer and Their Benefits
AI summarizers are advanced tools that use artificial intelligence to condense lengthy documents into digestible summaries. Using natural language processing and machine learning algorithms, these tools analyze a document's content to extract its most critical points. The result? A concise overview that allows readers to grasp the main ideas without having to read the entire text.
Different Types Of AI Summarizers
AI summarizers generally fall into two categories: extractive and abstractive.
Extractive summarizers
Identify the most important sentences or phrases in the original text and pull them out to create a summary. This method works without altering the wording of the document.
Abstractive summarizers
Use advanced algorithms to understand the text's context and generate a summary in new words that captures the core message. This method is more akin to how a human would summarize, making it more coherent and natural.
How AI Summarizers Work
AI summarizers typically employ NLP techniques like sentence scoring, clustering, and keyword extraction to identify and prioritize the most relevant content. Advanced models, especially those based on deep learning (like GPT-3), can comprehend context and generate more nuanced summaries.
Benefits of Using AI Summarizers
AI summarizers help readers sift through large amounts of information quickly to locate relevant data. Here are some of their key benefits:
Time Efficiency
AI summarizers significantly reduce the time required to read and comprehend lengthy documents, articles, research papers, or reports. Instead of spending hours reading, users can quickly get an overview of the content in seconds.
Enhanced Comprehension
By condensing information into shorter summaries, AI summarizers help users understand complex topics more quickly. Summaries highlight key points, making it easier to grasp the main ideas without getting lost in details.
Improved Productivity
For professionals and students, AI summarizers help streamline workflows by automating the summarization process. This allows them to focus on higher-value tasks such as analysis, decision-making, and information application.
Versatility Across Use Cases
AI summarizers are helpful in various scenarios—from summarizing news articles and blogs to condensing research papers, business reports, and legal documents. They are versatile tools that cater to different user needs.
Accessibility and Learning Enhancement
AI summarizers can provide quick overviews for people with reading difficulties or needing to review large amounts of information quickly. This makes information more accessible and manageable, enhancing learning experiences.
Key Features to Look for in an AI Summarizer
When selecting an AI summarizer for your needs, consider the following features:
Summarization Modes (Extractive vs. Abstractive)
Users should choose a summarizer based on the type of summarization it offers. Extractive summarizers are great for preserving original wording, while abstractive ones are better for generating more natural and coherent summaries.
Customization Options
Effective AI summarizers allow users to customize the summary's length and depth, adjust the detail level, and select specific focus areas within the text. This flexibility ensures that users get summaries that are tailored to their needs.
Multi-Language Support
Summarizers with multilingual capabilities are valuable features for users who deal with content in different languages. They enable them to summarize documents in various languages without translation errors.
Integration with Other Tools
A good AI summarizer integrates seamlessly with other productivity tools, such as writing software (e.g., Google Docs, Microsoft Word), project management tools, and research platforms, enhancing workflow efficiency.
Accuracy and Retention of Context
Retaining the original context and key messages is crucial without distorting the meaning. High-quality AI summarizers should offer summaries that accurately reflect the intent of the original content.
Output Formats and Accessibility
Users should look for summarizers that provide outputs in various formats (e.g., text, bullet points, infographics) and ensure accessibility across devices (e.g., web, mobile, and desktop apps).
Practical Tip: Choosing the Right AI Summarizer Based on Needs
Start by assessing your specific summarization needs, whether they are for academic research, professional reports, casual reading, or data extraction. Understand the type of content you work with and choose an AI summarizer that offers features aligned with those needs.
Different AI summarizers excel in other areas. For instance, academic researchers prefer summarizers that provide detailed, coherent summaries and support references, while professionals might need summarizers that focus on business reports and integration capabilities.
A legal professional dealing with lengthy contracts may prefer an AI summarizer that focuses on extracting key clauses and summarizing legal jargon into more comprehensible terms. At the same time, a student might look for one that summarizes academic papers into concise points for quick review.
Related Reading
Top 10 AI Summarizers
1. PDF.ai: The Interactive PDF Assistant
PDF.ai stands out with its unique ability to chat with PDFs, enabling users to interact with documents directly. Key features include asking questions about the content, getting summaries, extracting specific data, and categorizing documents with tags. It also supports multilingual interactions and embedding PDFs with chatbots.
PDF.ai allows users to quickly extract and summarize information from PDFs without manually reading through them, saving time and improving productivity, especially with complex documents like research papers or legal texts. The tool is intuitive and integrates seamlessly into existing workflows, providing an interactive way to manage and summarize PDFs.
PDF.ai is suitable for professionals, researchers, and students who frequently deal with PDF documents and must extract or summarize information quickly and efficiently.
2. QuillBot Summarizer: The Reliable Academic Aid
QuillBot offers two primary summarization modes: Standard and Fluency. It allows users to adjust the summary length and integrates with writing tools like Google Docs and Microsoft Word.
QuillBot provides concise and coherent summaries, helping users to quickly grasp the main ideas of articles, research papers, and essays. The user-friendly summarizer offers easy-to-use sliders to control the summary length and type.
QuillBot is best for academic writers, students, and professionals who must generate summaries for research or content creation.
3. SMMRY: The Simple, No-Frills Summarizer
SMMRY is a simple, no-frills AI summarizer that focuses on condensing articles, news, and online content. It allows users to adjust the length of summaries and remove certain words to customize outputs.
SMMRY provides quick, concise summaries of online content with minimal setup. It is fast and effective for users who want straightforward results. With a clean and minimalist interface, SMMRY is easy to use and ideal for quick summaries on the go.
SMMRY is ideal for casual readers, journalists, and content marketers who need quick overviews of news articles or blogs.
4. SummarizeBot: The Versatile Multitasker
SummarizeBot uses AI and blockchain technology to summarize text, audio, images, and videos. It supports multiple formats and provides keywords along with summaries.
SummarizeBot enables users to extract key points from various content types, making it versatile for applications from news to business reports. The tool is relatively straightforward and supports multiple file types, providing flexibility.
SummarizeBot is excellent for content creators, digital marketers, and journalists who handle diverse content formats.
5. Resoomer: The Academic and Technical Content Specialist
Resoomer is designed to summarize online articles, scientific papers, and long documents with a single click. It is beneficial for processing academic and technical content.
Resoomer helps users digest important information quickly by focusing on dense and complex texts, making it a valuable tool for students and researchers. It is easy to use and focuses on online content, offering browser extensions for easier access.
Resoomer is ideal for students, academics, and professionals who need to summarize and understand complex materials quickly.
6. Scholarcy: The Academic Paper Summarizer
Scholarcy focuses on academic papers, offering features like summary flashcards, reference extraction, and intelligent notes. It can summarize dense scholarly content and pull out important points.
Scholarcy provides structured summaries of academic texts, saving researchers time by highlighting key findings, methods, and conclusions. Explicitly designed for academia, it integrates well with academic databases and tools.
Scholarcy is perfect for academics, researchers, and students who require detailed summaries of scholarly articles.
7. GPT-3 Powered Summarizers: The Customizable, High-Quality Options
Tools built on GPT-3 provide advanced summarization capabilities, allowing for high-quality, contextually rich summaries tailored to different tones and styles.
GPT-3 summarizers deliver highly accurate and nuanced summaries that maintain the essence of the original text, making it suitable for various professional and creative uses. They offer customizable and flexible options for summary length and style, though the interface varies by tool.
GPT-3 summarizers are suitable for professionals, businesses, and content creators who need customizable, high-quality summaries.
8. TLDR This: The Straightforward Summarizer
TLDR This provides both concise and detailed summaries of web pages, articles, and blogs. It offers a customizable summarization length and format.
TLDR allows users to quickly understand the main points of online content, making it useful for quick reviews or initial research. Its simple and intuitive interface makes summarization easy and efficient.
TLDR This is ideal for bloggers, content marketers, and casual readers who need quick overviews of online content.
9. Mindgrasp: The Summarizer with Note-Taking Features
Mindgrasp combines summarization with note-taking capabilities, helping users extract and retain essential information from documents.
Mindgrasp is a comprehensive tool for learning and reference. It combines summaries with customizable notes and highlights. It offers a clean, organized interface that makes it easy to manage summaries and notes.
Mindgrasp is best for students, professionals, and lifelong learners who need to summarize and manage large amounts of information.
10. ChatGPT by OpenAI: The Conversational Summarizer
ChatGPT provides customizable and conversational summarization capabilities. It can engage users in a Q&A format for a more interactive summarization experience.
ChatGPT allows users to ask questions and get summaries in a conversational style, which can be more engaging and more accessible to digest. It is highly interactive, offering flexibility in responses and summarization formats.
ChatGPT is suitable for educators, trainers, support teams, and users who prefer a more interactive approach to summarization.
How to Choose the Right AI Summarizer for You
Identify Your Specific Summarization Needs
When finding the best AI summarizer, you must first identify your specific summarization needs. Start by understanding the core reasons why you need an AI summarizer. Are you a student looking to summarize research papers? A professional needing to condense lengthy business reports? Or a casual reader who wants to digest news articles quickly?
Each use case has different requirements. Next, look for features that match your needs. For example, researchers may prioritize tools that offer detailed summaries with reference extraction, like Scholarcy. At the same time, business professionals look for summarizers that integrate well with project management or document processing tools.
Consider Integration and Compatibility
If you already use tools like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or project management software, your AI summarizer must integrate smoothly with these platforms. This prevents switching between multiple tools, which can disrupt workflow and decrease productivity. Check if the AI summarizer offers browser extensions, plugins, or APIs that allow direct integration.
Tools like QuillBot and PDF.ai provide integrations that enhance workflow efficiency by enabling in-app summarization without exporting content back and forth. Before committing to a tool, try out any available trial versions to test how well it integrates with your existing setup.
Test for User-Friendliness and Ease of Use
A tool that is difficult to navigate or has a cluttered interface can be counterproductive. The user interface should be intuitive, allowing for a seamless summarization experience without a steep learning curve. Evaluate how easy it is to upload documents, adjust summarization settings, and retrieve results.
The app should have clear instructions and accessible support resources. When trialing an app, consider how quickly you can understand its core features. If it takes more than a few minutes to figure out how to summarize a document, it might not be the right choice for fast-paced environments.
Check the Flexibility and Customization Options
Different users have different preferences for summary length, style, and depth. The best AI summarizer should offer adjustable settings to cater to these varied needs. Ensure the tool allows you to set the length of the summary, choose between detailed and concise modes, and customize the focus (e.g., extracting key points or full paraphrased summaries).
PDF.ai, for example, offers a chat feature where users can ask specific questions and get tailored summaries. Start with default settings and then gradually explore customization options. This helps you find the most effective configuration without getting overwhelmed initially.
Review the Accuracy and Context Retention
The quality of an AI summarizer is primarily determined by how well it retains the context and main ideas of the original text. Some tools may generate summaries that need coherence or misrepresent the source content. Read user reviews and case studies to gauge the accuracy of the tool. Try summarizing a few documents to check if the tool captures the essence without missing critical information. Compare summaries from multiple tools to determine the most accurate and contextually relevant output.
Consider the Cost vs. Value
AI summarizers come in various pricing models—some offer free versions with limited features, while others require a subscription for full access. Evaluate whether the features provided justify the cost. If you only need basic summarization capabilities, a free or low-cost tool like SMMRY might suffice.
However, if you need advanced features like multilingual support, integration with APIs, or advanced customization, investing in a premium tool like PDF.ai might be worth it. Start with a tool’s free version to test its capabilities. If it proves beneficial and enhances your productivity, consider upgrading to a paid plan to unlock more features.
Read Reviews and Seek Recommendations from Other Users
Reviews from other users, particularly those with similar needs, provide valuable insights into how well an AI summarizer performs in real-world scenarios. Look for feedback on ease of use, accuracy, integration, and customer support. Browse app stores, online forums, and dedicated productivity or academic communities to find honest reviews and recommendations. Don't just rely on star ratings; read detailed reviews that discuss specific pros and cons relevant to your needs.
What is PDF.ai?
PDF.ai is the ultimate ChatPDF app, enabling you to interact with any PDF using AI. We also offer an API for seamless integration into your application. Get answers from the PDF, ask for a summary, extract the data, and find anything you need. PDF.ai helps to quickly extract, summarize, and interact with information in PDFs without manually reading through them. We enable users to ask questions, get summaries, and find specific details instantly, saving time and improving productivity, especially when dealing with lengthy or complex documents. Get started for free today with our AI PDF reader!
Best Practices for Using AI Summarizers
Set Clear Goals for Each Summarization Task
Establish a clear objective for what you want to accomplish with a summary. Whether you’re summarizing for research, a business presentation, or quick understanding, setting a specific goal helps guide the summarizer to provide more relevant outputs.
Review and Edit AI-Generated Summaries
While AI summarizers can provide excellent starting points, they aren’t always perfect. AI-generated summaries may occasionally miss context, misinterpret information, or exclude critical points. Human oversight is necessary to ensure accuracy and relevance.
Leverage Customization Features for Better Results
Different summarization tasks require different levels of detail. Customization features allow you to adjust the summary length, focus on particular sections, or choose between extractive and abstractive summaries. Tailoring these settings improves the quality of the summaries.
Combine Multiple Summarization Tools for Comprehensive Overviews
No single AI summarizer is perfect for all types of content or every user need. Combining different tools can provide a more balanced and comprehensive understanding of the material by leveraging the strengths of each tool.
Use Summarizers Alongside Traditional Reading Methods
AI summarizers are best used to complement traditional reading methods rather than replacements. Summaries provide quick insights, but they might miss nuances or the full context of a document.
Ensure Data Privacy and Security
When using AI tools, particularly those that require uploading sensitive documents, it is crucial to ensure data privacy and security. Some AI summarizers may not offer robust data protection.
Stay Updated with Tool Features and Enhancements
AI tools are constantly evolving, with new features, improvements, and bug fixes being added regularly. Staying updated ensures you leverage the latest capabilities and get the best results.
Common Pitfalls When Using AI Summarizers and How to Overcome Them
Don't Fall for the AI Summarizer Trap: Always Verify AI Outputs
Over-relying on AI summaries without verifying their accuracy is a common mistake that can seriously derail your research. AI can misinterpret your text or omit vital details, and it’s not uncommon for AI summaries to lack nuance or context.
Always cross-check AI-generated outputs with the original document or other trusted sources to avoid these pitfalls. Human oversight is crucial to ensure the summary accurately reflects the original content.
As a practical tip, use AI summaries as a starting point, but always skim through the original document to verify essential points. This is especially important for academic papers, legal documents, or detailed reports.
Customize Your Summaries to Get the Most out of AI Tools
Another common pitfall when using AI summarizers is ignoring the importance of customization. Using default settings can lead to summaries that are too vague, overly detailed, or miss the main points.
To get more relevant and precise outputs, explore and adjust the settings of your summarizer to match your specific needs. Tailor the summary length, focus areas, and language settings for better results.
For tools like PDF.ai, use the chat feature to ask more specific questions or request customized summaries focusing on particular sections or details. This provides a more accurate result.
The Right Tool for the Right Job: Choosing Your Summarizer Wisely
Only some AI summarizers are suitable for some types of content. Using a general-purpose summarizer for highly specialized or technical documents can result in poor-quality outputs.
To avoid this mistake, select a summarizer specifically designed for your type of content. For example, use Scholarcy for academic papers or legal documents, while tools like TLDR This or SMMRY may be more suitable for summarizing news articles or blogs.
Before summarizing, evaluate the type of content you’re dealing with and choose a tool known to handle that content well. Reading reviews or use-case studies can help you make the right choice.
Don't Settle for the First Summary Output: Review and Refine Your Summaries
Some users accept the first AI-generated summary as final without reviewing or refining it. This can lead to missed opportunities for clarity, context, or improved readability.
To avoid this mistake, treat AI summaries as drafts. Spend time refining them to ensure they meet the desired quality and context. Edit for clarity, adjust for the intended audience, and ensure all key points are covered.
After generating a summary, use editing tools within the summarizer or export the text to your preferred writing tool for further refinement.
Keep Your Confidential Data Secure When Using AI PDF Readers
Users often upload sensitive or confidential documents to AI summarizers without considering the data privacy implications. This can lead to data breaches or unauthorized access.
To avoid this mistake, always check the privacy policy and data handling practices of the AI summarizer before uploading sensitive content. Look for tools that offer local processing options or end-to-end encryption.
For susceptible documents, consider using summarizers that provide local processing options or encrypted channels for data transfer. PDF.ai, for instance, offers features for secure document handling.
Integrate AI Summarizers into Your Workflow for Maximum Efficiency
Using an AI summarizer as a standalone tool without integrating it into your existing workflow can lead to inefficiencies. Switching between multiple tools disrupts workflow continuity.
To avoid this mistake, choose summarizers that integrate well with the tools you already use, such as Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or project management software. This allows for seamless transitions and improved productivity.
Use APIs provided by tools like PDF.ai to embed summarization capabilities directly into your existing applications. This reduces time spent switching between different platforms and keeps workflows smooth.
Don't Expect Perfection: Set Realistic Goals When Using AI Tools
Sometimes, users expect AI summarizers to provide perfect, human-like summaries and may spend too much time adjusting settings to achieve flawless results. AI is not infallible; over-optimizing can lead to frustration.
To avoid this mistake, understand that AI summarizers are tools meant to assist, not replace, human judgment. Use them to save time and provide a foundation for deeper analysis, but always be prepared to adjust and refine.
Set realistic expectations for the summaries generated by AI tools. Use them as a base and refine the output to better suit your needs. Recognize when good enough is sufficient to move forward.
PDF.ai is the ultimate AI PDF reader, enabling you to interact with any PDF using AI. The tool helps to quickly extract, summarize, and interact with information in PDFs without manually reading through them. Get started for free today!
Related Reading
How PDF.ai Can Enhance Your Productivity with Summaries
PDF.ai focuses on helping users summarize and extract information from PDF documents. This specialized AI PDF reader stands out because of its unique features, such as chatting with PDFs, capturing and asking, and organizing and categorizing documents with tags.
Chat with PDFs: Interact with Your Document Like a Human
PDF.ai allows users to interact with their PDFs through a chat-based interface. Users can ask specific questions about the content, request summaries, or search for particular details without reading the entire document. This feature is handy for handling lengthy documents, such as research papers, legal contracts, or technical manuals.
Capture & Ask: Get Specific Answers About Highlighted Content
Users can highlight specific sections of a document and ask questions directly related to the selected content. This feature allows for more focused and relevant summaries or insights, enhancing productivity by reducing the time spent searching for information.
Organize Your Documents with Tags to Enhance Productivity
The tool offers a tagging feature to categorize and manage different PDF documents. This helps users organize their records, allowing for easy retrieval and reference. It’s a valuable feature for those managing extensive collections of PDFs.
Multilingual Support for Global Users
PDF.ai’s bot can interact in multiple languages, making it an excellent choice for international users or those working with multilingual documents. This feature ensures broader usability and accessibility.
How PDF.ai Boosts Your Productivity When Working with PDFs
PDF.ai can help users overcome common productivity challenges when working with PDF documents.
Efficient Information Retrieval
Instead of manually reading through lengthy PDFs to find key information, users can interact with the document directly through PDF.ai’s chat interface. This feature saves time and effort, especially when dealing with complex documents or tight deadlines.
Quick Summarization and Data Extraction
PDF.ai provides quick summaries of specific sections or entire documents, helping users access the core information faster. This is particularly valuable for researchers, students, or professionals who must sift through large amounts of information.
Enhanced Organization with Tags
By categorizing PDFs with tags, users can create a more structured and organized digital library. This improves document management and retrieval, especially when working on multiple projects or research areas.
Multilingual Interactions
The ability to interact in multiple languages makes PDF.ai a versatile tool for global users, researchers, and teams working with documents in various languages. This ensures productivity is maintained regardless of language barriers.
Interactive Learning and Collaboration
The Capture & Ask feature promotes interactive learning by allowing users to ask questions about specific text selections. This can be particularly useful for educational settings or collaborative work environments requiring in-depth understanding.
Case Study: Enhancing Research Efficiency with PDF.ai
Background
Sarah, a history graduate, often needs to review multiple historical documents and research papers for her thesis. The manual process of reading through each document was time-consuming and led to burnout.
Solution
She started using PDF.ai to interact with her PDF documents. The chat feature allowed her to quickly ask specific questions about the content and get summarized responses. The tagging feature also helped her categorize different documents by topics and relevance.
Results
Within weeks, Sarah reported a 60% reduction in the time spent reviewing documents and an increase in the quality of her thesis references. She found extracting pertinent information and cross-referencing data across multiple documents easier.
Feedback
Sarah highlighted the Capture & Ask feature as particularly useful for delving into complex sections. It allows her to focus on critical points without losing context.
Step-by-Step Guide to Using PDF.ai for Effective Summarization
Step 1: Upload Your PDF and Select Summarization Mode
- What to Do: Start by uploading the PDF documents you want to work with. You can choose between different summarization modes or directly interact with the document through chat.
- Why This Matters: Selecting the correct mode ensures you receive the most relevant type of summary or information extraction based on your needs.
Step 2: Use Tags to Organize and Categorize Documents
- What to Do: Apply tags to your PDF documents to categorize them by topic, project, or relevance. This makes it easier to manage and retrieve documents in the future.
- Why This Matters: Organized documents reduce the time spent searching and help maintain focus, especially when handling large libraries of PDFs.
Step 3: Interact with PDFs Using the Chat Feature
- What to Do: Use the chat feature to ask detailed questions, request summaries of specific sections, or extract data points. You can customize your queries to get the most relevant information.
- Why This Matters: This interactive capability allows for a more dynamic approach to summarization and information extraction, which can be tailored to specific user needs.
Step 4: Utilize the Capture & Ask Feature for Deep Dives
- What to Do: Highlight specific parts of a document and use the Capture & Ask feature to ask questions or get summaries related to that text. This provides focused and contextually accurate information.
- Why This Matters: This feature allows users to zoom in on complex sections and get detailed insights without reading the entire document, saving time and improving comprehension.
Step 5: Review and Export Summaries
- What to Do: Once summaries are generated, review them for accuracy and completeness. Use the editing tools to refine the content if necessary, and then export the summarized content for reports, presentations, or further analysis.
- Why This Matters: Reviewing and refining summaries ensure that the final output is of high quality and ready for practical use.
Try Our AI PDF Reader for Free Today
PDF.ai is the ultimate ChatPDF app, enabling you to interact with any PDF using AI. We also offer an API for seamless integration into your own application. Get answers from the PDF, ask for summary, extract the data, find anything you need.
Chat with All Of Your PDF Documents
PDF.ai lets you talk to your PDF documents. Once you upload a PDF, you can ask the AI questions about the document and it will respond in a conversational manner.
Use Tags to Categorize Different PDF Documents
PDF.ai allows you to organize your PDFs using tags. This helps you to categorize different documents for easier access and retrieval.
Let PDF.ai's Bot Speak Your Language
The AI chatbot in PDF.ai can communicate in different languages. You can change the language settings to let the PDF reader respond in your preferred language.
Capture & Ask
With PDF.ai, you can take screenshots of your PDF documents, capture specific data, and upload it to the AI reader for instant answers. This is especially useful for large documents with confusing layouts.
Embed a PDF with a Chatbot
PDF.ai lets you embed a PDF document with a chatbot on your website. This allows your visitors to interact with the PDF and get instant answers to their questions without having to read the whole document.