How AI Is Changing the Way We Use PDFs

Introduction:

For decades, PDFs have been the go-to file format for creating, printing, and digitally sharing documents. But as technology changes over time, PDFs have evolved as well. Below, we’ll discuss why we love using PDFs, a brief history of the PDF, and how artificial intelligence (AI) technology is changing how we create and use them.

Why We Love PDFs

Depending on how long you’ve been in the workforce, you may or may not remember offices that had stacks of papers on every desk and walls of physical file cabinets. The introduction of the Portable Document Format (PDF) allowed companies to take a first step toward greater sustainability by reducing the use and waste of paper products.

PDFs are also ideal because they keep their formatting no matter what program or device is used to open or print them. They can be easily shared via email, text message, or a URL link. Once they’re received, the recipient cannot easily make changes to the contents, protecting document integrity. They can also be password protected to gatekeep who has access to the document, whether for viewing, editing, printing, or copying.

In short, we love PDFs because:

They’re more sustainable than printed documents
They’re easy to share
They keep their formatting
They can be secured

A Brief History of the PDF

Although businesses began adopting computers in the 1950s and 1960s, there was no easy way to share text files. Raw text files didn’t have formatting options, and proprietary word processors like WordPerfect and Microsoft Word were not cross-compatible.

In June of 1993, Adobe co-founder Dr. John Warnock introduced PDFs to the world. The following year, PDFs became secure with improved password encryption. In 1996, fillable forms became available. From the 2000s onward, additional improvements, such as document signing, cloud storage, and Liquid Mode, were introduced.

How AI Is Changing PDFs

Recent years have seen even more technological advancements affecting PDFs—namely, the rise of generative AI. Below, we’ll discuss how AI has affected PDF document creation and editing.

Document Creation

PDF creation could previously be a tedious process. Users might employ various programs—for instance, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, Adobe Photoshop, or Adobe InDesign—to format text and images from scratch. You would then need to export the file to a PDF instead of saving it as a .doc or .psd file. The resulting PDF file usually wasn’t editable, but we’ll discuss that in the next section.

Today, however, many platforms allow you to easily format different types of documents and download them directly as PDFs. For example, you can use an AI-assisted cover letter generator to make suggestions and format your letter, then download and save it as a PDF to upload or share via email.

Interacting with PDFs

As mentioned above, PDFs are great because the content and formatting can’t be changed by other parties. But if you forgot to save the editable source file, you might find yourself recreating your document from scratch if you need to make any changes.

Today, many programs allow users to edit PDFs directly, performing actions such as cropping pages; changing text, fonts, font sizes; or adding text boxes. You can also use interactive programs to fill in forms or sign and share official documents.

Finally, you can also use AI to edit and proofread your PDFs just as you would a .doc document.

Editing Existing Files by Converting File Types

Other programs can be used to convert PDF files to other (editable) file formats. For example, you can use an AI-powered converter to restore a PDF file to a Word document.

If you need to use your PDF in a different program, you can also convert it to an Excel, PowerPoint, JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, or CAD file. And, if you need to print or email one of these file types to someone who doesn’t have the program to view them, you can convert them to a PDF.

Automatic Text Extraction

AI is changing the game when it comes to digitizing handwritten or printed texts for digital use and distribution. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tools can extract text from scanned images and turn them into shareable PDFs.

This technology has shaken up academia, including literature and archaeology. For example, the Smithsonian Institution recently reported that an AI model named Enoch had been trained on ancient document fragments and used to date previously undated Dead Sea Scrolls based on the handwriting styles. Similarly, AI has also been used to “translate” difficult-to-read handwriting and texts in unknown languages.

As mentioned above, you can use programs to convert PDFs to Excel files. This requires AI data extraction and table recognition. If you’ve ever copied and pasted a table that then lost its formatting, you know how frustrating this can be. AI can identify table layouts—even if they span multiple pages or have inconsistent formatting—and put them in a usable format.

Understanding PDFs

Despite their strong points, PDFs have been notorious for their inability to be read or searched by other programs. This is no longer the case with AI. Text-to-speech accessibility tools can read PDFs aloud, making them more accessible to visually impaired users—or those who simply want to listen to the information while they jog, do chores, drive, or something else. AI can also interpret and adapt the voice and tone to the nature of the document. For example, different intonation would be used when reading a children’s story versus a legal brief.

You can ask generative AI or SwifDoo AI to read and summarize a lengthy PDF, even explaining obscure portions of text. If the PDF is in another language, various programs can translate it into the language of your choice. They can even detect and identify the source language if it is unknown. AI tools like Google Translate now have context awareness, an improvement over previous word-for-word tools.

Semantic searches are another benefit of AI. Instead of just looking for a keyword, natural language models allow you to ask a question and find potential answers even if you don’t know the keywords to search.

Compliance

Many businesses handle sensitive information. AI can assist in identifying and flagging sensitive data that might represent Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance issues. They do this by looking for confidential terms, such as those commonly used in protected health information, financial data, or trade secrets, or personal information like contact info, Social Security numbers, or other personally identifiable information.

Key Takeaways

PDF files have been a helpful digital companion for more than 30 years. The PDF has been an enduring file type because it’s easy to use and open from practically any device; it’s secure, and you know that your recipient will see the same thing you do.

AI has helped PDF technology grow by leaps and bounds. It’s made it easier to edit PDFs, understand them, convert them to other file types, and create them from scratch, scans of physical documents, or even text in other languages. You could even listen to your PDF document just like an ebook or a podcast!

While AI is changing how we create and use PDFs, there’s little doubt that this file format is here to stay. You can take advantage of AI tools to make your use of PDFs smoother and more enjoyable.