People often struggle with lengthy texts, students for revisions, and professionals for extracting key points. The thing is that reading lengthy texts to find a piece of information only ends up overwhelming. To get into the information with ease a good approach is to summarize it. But summarizing texts itself is a skill that is not such simple. The good news? In this blog post, we are going to give you a modern solution to summarize lengthy texts efficiently.
1. Why summarizing long texts is important?
Summarizing long texts gives many benefits to people in various fields. It makes the information easy to comprehend.
For example, it helps students in revision by letting them turn lengthy chapters into short summaries having key points.
Such effective summaries not only help them revise essential concepts on time but also clear up any missing concepts.
Meanwhile, professionals often utilize summaries to communicate observations or extract key information to make presentations.
2. The challenges of manual summarization
Manual summarization was the only way to condense lengthy texts a few years back. Yet the process was effective but one has to put in a lot of effort. But this is not the only hurdle. Manual summarization also involves various other challenges including the common one we have listed below.
1. Information overload
When the document to be summarized is composed of hundreds of pages, just imagine how much time it will take to read and understand the information. One must read all of it because without going through all the information it is not possible to make a successful summary.
2. Bias and oversight
Research published by the National Library of Medicine (US) states that “having unconscious bias is a human condition”. So, while doing summarization of lengthy texts especially reports chances are humans get a bit biased. Besides this, being human people sometimes also overlook crucial points, especially those that are technical and tough to understand.
3. Complex structure
Some information i.e., academic papers or legal documents often involve dense information. In such documents jargon and heavy language are often used. These things make the summarization process complicated.
3. The solution
To overcome the above challenges technology has provided a simple solution that makes the summarization process effortless. The solution we are talking about is using summarizing tools, those that are powered by artificial intelligence. They will assist you in doing the summarizing job very well.
If you search for AI text summarizers online, you’ll find various free options. But know that not all tools provide accurate results. There are some tools in the online market that seem to condense the text very well but in actuality, they change the context of the original text at all.
That is why it is very crucial to choose the right tool for making your text concise effortlessly.
Choosing the right tool
Below we have shared tested criteria that can help you find the right one.
- Firstly, look for a tool that is simple to use because we are looking to make the process effortless.
- Choose one that has good accuracy in understanding the context and maintain it in the output as well.
- Summarizing is not just about condensing paragraphs. It also involves making bullet points and number listing. So, look for one that can do the thing.
- Lastly, choose a tool that lets you save or copy the output. Else, you’ll have to type the output text manually which also is a time-consuming task.
To ease the process for you our team has done the tool research process by keeping the above criteria in mind. Below are the three tools that we think are good options to consider and the good thing is that all three are free to use.
- Text Summarizer by Editpad
- AI Summarizer
- Text Summarizer by Prepostseo
Next, we are going to practically demonstrate to you how you can summarize text using such tools.
How to summarize text using a tool?
For our demonstration, we are going to use EditPad’s Text Summarizer. The reason is its features, simple interface, and output accuracy caught our attention on the first visit to the tool.
Here are some common features that are being offered by the tool:
- Free to use
- Available in 10+ languages
- Make the content easy to skim
- Perform summarization instantly
- Allows to download the summary
- Let the user customize the output length
- AI-powered so no chance of being biased
- Output totally aligns with the original intent
- Let the user make the bullet points from the output
- Have good device compatibility across laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.
Here are the steps you need to follow to summarize text:
1. Visit Editpad’s text summarizer tool.
2. Copy and paste your long text into the summary.
3. Adjust the desired summary length by dragging the slider at the top.
4. Click “Summarize.” Within moments, you’ll have a concise version of your text.
5. To make bullet points click on the show bullets button at the top (if needed).
6. Download the file or copy the text as it suits you.
4. Use cases for summarization
If you have any doubts regarding the accuracy of AI summarization tools or want to know where they can have the most impact. Below we have shared two different case studies that’ll clear any questions in your mind regarding such tools.
Use Case 1: Academic Assignments
Students often struggle with their academic assignments. For collecting information, they need to read multiple research materials and essays. Most of their time is spent going through such sources. But using the AI text summarizer students can streamline the research process.
For example, if a technology student is preparing an assignment about the role of artificial intelligence. Instead of reading multiple articles and research papers what they can do is copy the text from those sources and run them through the summarizing tool.
The tool will instantly make them a summary of the material provided having the key idea or numbers discussed inside. This will let students use the necessary information and complete their assignments with ease.
Use Case 2: Business Analysis
Professionals often come in need to process lengthy reports and make them condensed like for making presentations or meeting minutes. Such documents require more effort and attention if summarized manually because they involve financial numbers and budget values. But using AI summarizing tools they can do that with ease.
For example, if a marketing manager is tasked with making minutes for a business meeting using a previous report. And that report is more than 50 pages long. It is obvious that to read such a large number of pages one needs bulk time.
In such situations, what that marketing manager can do is run the report through a summarizing tool. The tool will provide them with a concise summary having essential values and statistics. And it doesn’t need much time for tools, it’s just a matter of seconds (if using the right one like the one we mentioned earlier). Using the generated summary, the manager can easily prepare meeting minutes on time.
Use Case 3: Repurpose Content
Content marketers often need to repurpose lengthy blog posts and articles to make infographics and videos out of them. For this, they have to go through the content from top to bottom and it will take plenty of their time. If the content is long-form and filled with complex details the process will become more difficult.
However, using an AI text summarizer, they can quickly extract key points and essential insights from the original content.
For example, if a content creator wants to turn a 3,000-word blog post into an engaging video script, they should run it through an AI summarizing tool. The tool will turn the blog post provided into a concise version with the main ideas. This will let the creator structure their script efficiently.
5. Final Thoughts
Summarization of lengthy text no longer needs tedious efforts. AI tools like Editpad's Text Summarizer have changed the game. Opting for such tools not only ensures accuracy but also alleviates stress. Such tools act as sources to lean on for better productivity and comprehension across tasks.
Why struggle with lengthy texts when you can focus on what truly matters? Try AI summarizing tools today and experience the ease of summarization.
6. Frequently Asked Questions
1. How does the Text Summarizer work?
Text summarizers use advanced algorithms to analyze the input text. They identify essential themes and concepts and then generate a summary having the core message of the content.
2. Can I use the Text Summarizer for free?
Yes! There are various free online text summarizing tools available. Simply paste your text into one of the tools, and it will quickly generate a summary for you.
3. Is the AI summarization process accurate?
Upon trying, we can say that yes, they do give accurate results. In fact, they are designed to prioritize accuracy and ensure that the summarized content preserves the original context.
