A Note on AI, Authorship, and Tools

I believe in tools.

I also believe tools require judgment.

That may sound like I'm talking about a gun. In some ways, I am. I believe in the Second Amendment, and I also believe reasonable people can support responsible gun control. A tool can be useful, dangerous, misunderstood, overhyped, abused, or handled with care. The same is true of artificial intelligence.

A hammer can build a home or break a window. A calculator can help you solve a problem, but it cannot decide what problem is worth solving. A cordless Sawzall, kept charged in case of zombies, is still only as useful as the person holding it.

AI is no different.

This book is my original story. It is not AI-generated fiction. It is not machine-written content dressed up as a novel. It is not "AI slop." This story has been with me for over a decade. The world, the characters, the themes, the structure, the fear, the humor, the grief, and the warning are mine.

I did use AI as a tool during the process, and I used it within the policies set forth by KDP.

To me, AI belongs in the same long line of creative and productivity tools that writers have always adapted to: the word processor, copy and paste, spellcheck, grammar check, search engines, formatting software, and publishing platforms.

A word processor made revision faster. Copy and paste may be one of the greatest inventions in writing history. Spellcheck helps me avoid embarrassing myself. Grammar tools help catch the moments where 'too' and 'to' try two ruin my day…

But there is a line.

A grammar tool can suggest a cleaner sentence. It can also sand off the edges that make a sentence mine. It can offer a ten-dollar word where a five-cent word carries more truth. It can make prose more "correct" while making it less human.

That is where the writer has to remain in charge.

For this book, AI was used as an assistant, not as the author. It helped with refinement, organization, quality checks, publishing logistics, and parts of the website and production pipeline. The most significant AI assistance came after the manuscript existed: helping me navigate the practical burden of independent publishing, formatting, launch preparation, website setup, and the many small operational tasks that stand between a finished book and a published one. As well as resolve several DNS errors.

The story itself came from me.

AI can make a writer more efficient. It can help a writer see blind spots. It can reduce friction. It can assist with editing, structure, marketing language, and workflow. But it cannot replace lived experience. It cannot carry obsession. It cannot sit with an idea for ten years. It cannot know why a sentence hurts. It cannot decide what a story means.

That responsibility stays with the author.

So my position is simple: I use AI the way I use any powerful tool—with intention, skepticism, and boundaries.

The voice is mine.
The story is mine.
The warning is mine.

The tool did not write the book. The tool helped me bring it into the world.