AI or Author? Acclaimed Novel Pulled From Top French Literary Prize
AI or Author? Acclaimed Novel Pulled From Top French Literary Prize
A celebrated novel by Thélyson Orélien, "It Was That or Die," is removed from France's prestigious Goncourt prize shortlist amid explosive AI and plagiarism claims. What's next for the literary world?
Thélyson Orélien's acclaimed novel, "C'était ça ou mourir" (It Was That or Die), a powerful first-person narrative about fleeing gang violence and finding refuge, was a literary sensation in France. Selling around 35,000 copies and winning the Prix du roman Fnac, it was a strong contender for the prestigious Académie Goncourt prize.
However, its meteoric rise has been abruptly halted following accusations of AI authorship and, more recently, plagiarism.
The controversy began on September 21st, the same day the book won the Fnac prize. An anonymous online account named "Balance ton Claude" (a reference to Anthropic's AI agent) alleged on X that the novel was "almost entirely" written by artificial intelligence. The account claimed to have fed the book into an AI detection software called Pangram, which indicated AI involvement.
While questions have been raised about Pangram's accuracy, and other AI detection programs found the book "very probably written by a human," the seed of doubt was planted.
Orélien, a 38-year-old Haitian-Canadian author, vehemently denied the AI claims, calling them racially motivated.
He emphasized his passion for writing and his use of traditional Haitian and Caribbean language rhythms and imagery. "The imagery, repetition and rhythm are a living language, they are mine," he stated.
The anonymous accuser was later identified as Samuel Fitoussi, a columnist for Le Figaro. Fitoussi, a self-proclaimed "techno-optimist," explained his actions by expressing fear that "AI will cause the disappearance of reading and writing."
Initially, Philippe Claudel, president of the Académie Goncourt, urged caution regarding the AI allegations. However, the situation escalated when separate accusations of plagiarism against Orélien emerged in French media. The newspaper Libération reported that Orélien had plagiarized an award-winning short story from the preface of Louis Pauwels' 1960 book, "The Morning of the Magicians."
This new development proved to be the tipping point. The Académie Goncourt officially withdrew Orélien's novel from its longlist, citing both the "plagiarisms of which its author has been guilty over time" and the
convergent result of several analyses by trustworthy researchers and journalists highlighting the fact that [the book] is in all likelihood very largely the product of artificial intelligence.
The academy's statement underscored their intent to "send a clear message" that they "neither endorse nor condone in any way the creation of texts generated with the help of AI."
The case highlights the growing challenges faced by the literary world in the age of advanced artificial intelligence and the ongoing debate surrounding authorship, originality, and integrity in creative works.
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