I won't keep you suspense, though. The short answer is yes, MAI robots will read for pleasure. Not only will they read for pleasure but we will ask them to do so. If we want them to be as charming as us, such behavior will be part of the prescription.
I can say much of the above with complete confidence because there already is a reading robot, albeit a dumpy looking one. The University of Oxford's Marge can read print books and signs regardless of size, angle or lighting, and it can learn things such as the complete identification of businesses that are only partially described. Robots like Marge will be the first to one day read for pleasure while you are out for a stroll with them and boring them with your conversation. And we can say things like, "Are you reading books as I speak? How dare you?"
The downside is that their pleasure will last just a second per book even with a slow processor. Even if every human being on Earth became a writer, and machine critics liked every bit of our drivel, we would never keep up with the demand. That scenario would mean full employment for the lot of us who by then would have been put out of work by their fellow robots. We have to pray that MAI robots respect our digital rights management and pay something. Yet how much will they pay for that bright moment of reading pleasure?
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