I appreciate the rest of your comment, and I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "illegal" but if you mean "breaking an actual law" it is not "illegal" for a pilot in command of an aircraft "to read". Having said that, if you're doing something in the cockpit as pilot in command that doesn't pertain to piloting your aircraft, you're doing it wrong.

Autopilots are adjunct flight controls. They are not...the pilot in command.