While I don’t disagree that it engages different parts of the brain, reading audio books is still beneficial, and no studies have shown a demonstrable difference in a person’s comprehensive ability using physical vs audiobooks. In fact, some groups like the National Literacy Trust have shown that audiobooks can be beneficial for engagement in education and if used properly, beneficial to the learning process in general. Humans (and our precursors) spent millennia conveying stories, culture and history entirely through verbal storytelling. As a species we have spent more time listening to stories and absorbing them that way than physically reading them.

While there is certainly a difference between reading and listening to books, I absolutely would not criticize anyone who chooses to pick up an audiobook vs not consuming books at all. Seeing words spelled out and the punctuation within the writing is helpful, especially for those learning to read or learning the language. But audiobooks are still books and as far as I’m concerned you “read” the book if you listened to the audio in full.