The Academie Goncourt has removed a debut novel by Haitian-Canadian author Thelyson Orelien from the longlist for France's most prestigious literary prize, after accusations that he used artificial intelligence to write it. The move, announced Friday, has set off a wider dispute in French literary circles over race, merit and how publishing can verify authorship in the age of AI writing tools, CNN reported.
Orelien denies using AI to write "C'etait Ca ou Mourir" ("It Was Either That or Die"), his debut novel about a Haitian migrant who travels through Latin America before settling in Canada, according to CNN. The book had already won the Prix du Roman Fnac and was a finalist for both the Goncourt and the Renaudot, The Cool Down reported, citing BBC News.
The accusations originated with a little-known X account called Balance ton Claude, which said this week that the novel was "almost totally" written by AI, according to The Cool Down's account of BBC News reporting. The account said it had run passages from different sections of the manuscript through Pangram, an AI-detection tool it described as highly accurate, and that each test returned the same finding of AI-generated text, The Cool Down reported. Essayist Samuel Fitoussi later said he was among those who ran the account, according to CNN, though he said other individuals involved remain unidentified.
Orelien pushed back on the claim rather than accept it. Speaking to Libération, he said he and his editor were gathering material to show the novel was genuinely his work, and questioned why he would feel any need to use a machine given his lifelong devotion to writing and literature, according to The Cool Down. He also described the novel's language and rhythm as drawn from his own Haitian and Caribbean traditions, The Cool Down reported.
Grasset, his publisher, defended him publicly, calling the accusations deeply unfair to a writer with an extraordinary personal story and describing the novel as original and powerful, according to the BBC's reporting as relayed by The Cool Down. CNN reported that Orelien's French and Canadian publishers had initially offered him their full support over the AI allegations, though the publishers did not respond to CNN's requests for comment Friday.
The dispute deepened this week when La Presse reported that Orelien had plagiarized earlier work: a 2012 short story that copied passages from a book by French author Louis Pauwels, and a 2013 opinion piece that copied from the Philippine newspaper The Philippine Star. Orelien has not yet responded to those accusations, CNN reported, and did not respond to CNN's request for comment Friday.
The Academie Goncourt said it had taken note of both the AI and plagiarism accusations before deciding to remove the novel, in order to protect the integrity of the prize and of the Academie itself, whose central role is to promote and honor literature written by women and men, CNN reported. The Academie added that it hoped the decision would demonstrate its full opposition to texts generated with the help of AI, and said it would make no further comment before October 6, when its shortlist is due to be announced, according to CNN.
Detection tools under scrutiny
The case turns partly on how much weight to give AI-detection software. CNN noted that some experts consider the reliability of such tools questionable. The Cool Down reported that skeptics of Pangram and similar programs say the tools remain far from settled, with different detectors sometimes reaching different conclusions about the same passage, and with accuracy said to improve substantially for a full-length work compared with a short passage like a social media post.
The Cool Down pointed to a comparable episode involving Trinidadian writer Jamir Nazir, whose story "The Serpent in the Grove" briefly lost the Commonwealth Short Story Prize after generative AI accusations before organizers restored it, having concluded the writing was genuine.
The Academie Goncourt's shortlist is due October 6.
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