About BringTheBookToLife

Step inside the classics

BringTheBookToLife is a search experience sponsored by Empathy Holdings and its AI Governance platform Empathy AI.

In tribute to Project Gutenberg and its noble mission of literacy through literature, Empathy AI extends its discovery capabilities across Project Gutenberg's vast library, enabling deep exploration within actual books.

Empathy AI is dedicated to preserving the magic and immersive world of books while embedding an AI experience designed to spark curiosity and engage readers.

This initiative runs as a fully private, self-hosted experience, powered by open-weight models that are sustainably computed through Empathy.AI routing.

Through BringTheBookToLife, Empathy AI seeks to demonstrate that there is indeed another path for AI—one that aligns with moral values and the imperative of a responsible, human-centered AI transformation.

How the story came to life

BringTheBookTo Life began with a simple mission: to align AI with literature. Our goal is to show that AI can deliver an engaging reading experience over a private cloud and open-weight models, while celebrating and respecting the intellectual property of classic works. Because great books were never meant to sit quietly on a shelf, they were written to generate interest, challenge ideas, and ignite imagination. Become a character, live another life, visit fantastic places…

This couldn’t have happened without the massive inspiration from Project Gutenberg’s mission to democratize access to knowledge. As a pioneer in making literature and culture accessible to all through public domain works and volunteer-driven contributions, Project Gutenberg has laid the foundation we proudly build upon. This is why we chose to integrate its vast collection of public domain books into Empathy AI’s Large Language Model (LLM), staying true to the values of openness, respect, and cultural celebration.

When we saw how many readers felt disconnected from classic literature, we asked ourselves: What if we could step inside the story instead of just reading it?

That is when Empathy AI came in. By combining Project Gutenberg’s open library with a private, ethical LLM, we built a digital experience where books do not just speak to you, they speak with you.

Empathy AI: AI with privacy and governance at its core

Empathy AI is ethical intelligence built for people. Rooted in Artificial Wisdom and Artificial Curiosity, it enhances discovery instead of replacing it. Unlike traditional AI, Empathy AI is private, open source, and grounded in the Privacy by Design approach, making it sustainable and trustworthy.

Its power comes alive in initiatives like Bring The Book To Life, where Project Gutenberg’s 70,000+ free e-books transform into interactive journeys. Here, readers do more than read: they explore, question, and converse with classics in a safe, playful, and truly human-centered way.