Author accused of using AI — France’s prestigious Goncourt prize drops novel from the list

The organizers of the prestigious French literary “Goncourt” prize said on Friday they had removed from their longlist a bestselling novel by Haitian-Canadian author Thelyson Orelien, after accusations it was written using artificial intelligence.

Orelien denied having used artificial intelligence to write “C’etait Ca ou Mourir,” after the accusations sparked a debate about race, literary merit and originality that has roiled the French literary establishment.

The accusations of AI use were made this week by a little-known X account, “Balance ton Claude.”

The AI accusations were followed by reports that Orelien had committed plagiarism in earlier works. La Presse said a 2012 short story by Orelien had plagiarized fragments from a book by French author Louis Pauwels, while a 2013 opinion piece was copied from The Philippine Star newspaper.

The Paris-based Goncourt Academy said it had taken into account the accusations of artificial intelligence and plagiarism and had decided to remove the novel “to preserve the integrity of the Goncourt Prize and that of the Academy, whose central role is to promote and honor literature written by women and men.”

The Academy said it hoped its decision would show it was fully opposed to “the creation of texts generated with the help of artificial intelligence,” adding it would make no further comment before October 6, when it will announce its shortlist.

The debut novel by the Haiti-born author tells the story of a Haitian emigrant who travels north through Latin America before ending up in Canada. It has won a host of other literary prizes and was expected to be translated into many languages.