TreeReader

For centuries, reading has meant scrolling—page by page, line by line. But what if reading could mean navigating a tree? TreeReader, a new system from researchers at the University of Toronto and the Vector Institute, challenges the linearity of academic literature. It proposes a reimagined interface: one where large language models (LLMs) summarize each section and paragraph into collapsible nodes in a hierarchical tree, letting readers skim, zoom, and verify with surgical precision. The result is more than a UX tweak—it’s a new cognitive model for how scholars might interact with complex documents in the era of AI. ...