I'm not sure we read something as much as we develop a shared mental model and associated new language with another human. Most of the time these models are just slightly different from before, so the change is so subtle as to be invisible. We have the appearance of a universal language called, say, "English". We don't actually have one. It's close enough.

If you take a look around, printed words don't exist in most languages. Most languages are spoken. Printing is an extremely new thing we've only had for a very short amount of time. The only thing print can do is present a stilted, over-formal version of what listening to a monotone person give a speech in a dark room might be like. That's good enough for most cases, since the brain makes stuff up it needs. But I don't think it's language, at least not in the same way real spoken languages are language. Real languages are a messy and confusing affair, even more than printed words can be. The way it works is through the interaction over time, not over definitions. (Something something language games)

I wish the guys luck. I'm not so sure we understand the problem yet. We may end up creating a machine that makes up answers to our questions after reading such that it sounds like a real person is doing the work. That's cool -- but it'd be a horrible disaster for humanity if something like that started being the primary interaction point with people. Over time it would make us a horribly stupid and unimaginative species. Like everything else in tech, we have good intentions and endless optimism. We're going to solve a problem whether we understand what it is or not, dang it. plus ça change... (And no, I don't think giving up the idea is any good. I'm just encouraging more understanding of the real goal versus the apparent goal)