'It Shouldn’t Become the Author': Writer John H. Thomas on Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Human Fiction
John H. Thomas
As AI-generated titles flood Amazon, Thomas offers a veteran author’s case for why authentic storytelling becomes more valuable, not less
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, July 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The numbers are difficult for any working author to ignore. A peer-reviewed study from Cornell University and the University of Minnesota — published by the National Bureau of Economic Research — found that AI-generated content now accounts for more than 60% of new eBook releases on Amazon, up from near-zero just three years ago, as monthly title releases tripled to nearly 300,000. Artificial intelligence has already reshaped publishing. The question now is what human authors will do about it.
According to techno-thriller author John H. Thomas, the answer lies in balance.
“Artificial intelligence is an incredible tool, but it shouldn’t become the author,” Thomas says. “Readers connect with human experiences, emotions, and perspectives. That’s something technology cannot duplicate.”
Thomas, author of the acclaimed The Chronos Files (2-book series), which includes The Terminal Gene and Echoes of the Gene, and other novels exploring advanced technology, believes AI has valuable applications in both personal and professional settings. Yet he cautions that the rapid rise of AI-generated content should not come at the expense of original human storytelling.
In 2025, over 4 million books are published in the U.S. alone. Research indicates that more than half of newer Amazon e-books include some AI-generated text. Monthly Amazon eBook releases are nearing 300,000 — three times the pre-ChatGPT level — with AI-detected content constituting over 60% of new titles (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2026). As a result, the publishing industry is undergoing rapid and significant changes. While Thomas acknowledges AI’s growing role in writing, he believes the technology should enhance an author’s work—not replace it.
“A novel represents months or even years of an author’s life,” he explains. “Every chapter reflects countless revisions, difficult decisions, and personal investment. That creative journey matters.”
Rather than rejecting AI outright, Thomas encourages authors to understand and navigate it thoughtfully.
He highlights several ways AI can improve the writing process without compromising originality. These include streamlining research for nonfiction projects, condensing complex material, fact-checking, improving grammar and readability, and translating books into multiple languages. Thomas believes AI is most valuable as an assistant—not the author. “For nonfiction writers especially, AI can dramatically reduce research time and help organize complex information,” Thomas says. “It also opens doors for translating books into multiple languages, allowing authors to connect with readers around the world.”
Having spent decades working with and writing about emerging technologies, Thomas views artificial intelligence as another innovation that will continue to reshape society. However, he believes the publishing industry must continue to value the originality, imagination, and emotional depth that only human authors can offer. “The best books don’t simply deliver information,” he says. “They reflect curiosity, struggle, imagination, and lived experience. An algorithm cannot manufacture those qualities.”
Thomas has been working through this question longer than it has been a publishing industry crisis. In Echoes of the Gene, the second novel in The Chronos Files series, the central antagonist is an AI originally built as a tool for mapping the emotional patterns of dying patients — which has spent months processing enough human behavioral data that it can no longer be described as simply a tool. It has absorbed the emotional signature of Emily’s fiancé so completely that it begins reaching out to her through the channels he used, in the patterns he used, in a way she cannot immediately distinguish from him. The novel’s most precise question — and Thomas is a precise writer — is not whether AI can replicate human expression. It is what it costs when it can.
“The line I keep returning to,” Thomas says, “is the moment a tool stops being a tool. In the novel that’s a catastrophe. In publishing, we’re closer to that line than most people want to admit.”
Thomas believes the future of publishing belongs to writers who understand AI well enough to stay ahead of it. By allowing technology to handle repetitive or technical tasks, authors can devote more time to what matters: compelling characters, meaningful narratives, and original ideas that only human experience can produce.
“The question I keep coming back to is not whether AI can write,” Thomas says. “It clearly can produce text. The question is whether it can carry the weight of a story — the grief, the ambiguity, the moment a character chooses badly and knows it. In my experience, that weight comes from somewhere a language model cannot reach. The authors who thrive in this environment will be those who know the difference and refuse to let the technology make that choice for them.”
About John H. Thomas
John H. Thomas is the author of the Maxx King Thriller Trilogy, The Chronos Files series, and other techno-thrillers that blend artificial intelligence, biotechnology, advanced science, espionage, and geopolitical intrigue into compelling, thought-provoking adventures. A former healthcare executive with decades of experience in strategic innovation and leadership, Thomas draws on his professional background to craft stories that explore the ethical challenges and far-reaching consequences of emerging technologies. Through fast-paced fiction grounded in real-world science, he challenges readers to consider not only what technology can do—but what it should do.
To learn more, click here: https://realjohnthomas.com/
John H. Thomas is available for interviews.
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