Your current read: written by a human or generated by AI?
Autumn often provides the perfect opportunity to dive into that pile of books gathering on your nightstand. But have you ever wondered how many of these novels were written entirely by humans? A recent study on the US book market suggests AI now plays a far greater role than most assume – with economic consequences that also affect authors who don’t use these tools.
1 in 3 books contains AI-generated content
Tuhin Chakrabarty and his team analysed 14,419 fiction works, primarily self-published on Amazon between 2023 and March 2026. Using Pangram v3.3, a tool that evaluates text chapter by chapter, they identified fragments not classified as 'human-written'.
The analysis established 3 categories:
- No AI-generated text (0%)
- Moderate AI use (0–25% of content)
- AI-intensive (over 25%)
Note: This is a statistical classification, not a direct admission from authors about their tool usage.
The findings show that 62.9% of books contain no detectable AI. Of the rest, 17.1% fall under "moderate AI" and 20% as "AI-intensive" – meaning over one-third (33%) of books include AI-generated text. Yet this doesn’t translate to commercial success: "AI-intensive" works account for just 12.1% of sales and 11.3% of total revenue, while human-only books (62.9% of titles) dominate with 71.7% of sales.
Graph 1. Share of titles, sales and revenue by category.
Source: Chakrabarty et al., 2026, fig. 1C, p. 4
The rise of literary robots
All 8 genres studied show a sharp increase in 'AI-intensive' works. This growth is particularly pronounced in romantic crime fiction, science fiction, and thrillers, where AI adoption is most widespread. Conversely, fantasy and horror remain less affected. The graph below illustrates the share of new 'AI-intensive' titles by genre.
Graph 2. Share of new AI-intensive titles (2023–2026).
Source: Chakrabarty et al., 2026, fig. 1A, p. 4
More books, lower revenues
The number of titles sold at least once per quarter has multiplied by 19.2 since 2023, yet revenues have only grown 8.9-fold. The result: average profitability per book is plummeting, including for works with no detected AI (declines in 7 of 8 genres).
An extreme case? One author writing under the pseudonym Coral Hart allegedly published over 200 novels in a single year, generating $643,000 in gross revenue from just one AI-intensive' title.
And what about you—will you soon be looking for the 100% handcrafted book label?
A must-read!
By the way, still searching for a gripping read? Take the time to discover Neal Stephenson—unmatched and essential. He’s just released D: Heavy Water, the long-awaited sequel to Polostan.
In this trilogy, Stephenson trains his spotlight on the pivotal early 20th-century events that led to the birth, and use, of nuclear weapons. Everything he writes bears his signature: fascinating characters, breathless twists, biting humour, and a torrent of ideas that leave no one unmoved. A true masterpiece!