Canadian-Haitian novelist removed from Prix Goncourt longlist after AI and plagiarism claims

The useful part

Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The author Thélyson Orélien, whose book, C'était ça ou mourir, has sold about 35,000 copies. Published in France by Grasset in August, it has sold about 35,000 copies and won the Prix du roman Fnac, with translation rights sold to more than 20 countries. Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters Allegations that the book was written using AI emerged on X on 21 September, the same day It Was That or Die won the Fnac prize for best novel.

How it works

• "We unequivocally condemn the hateful messages and personal attacks of recent days, and we urge everyone to show restraint," it said.
• The Haiti-born author's book is a lyrical first-person account of how a history and geography teacher flees a home country mired in gang violence and embarks on a perilous journey across 12 countries before...
• An anonymous account called Balance ton Claude – a reference to Anthropic's AI agent – said it had fed the novel into the AI detection software Pangram and found it to be "almost entirely" written by...
• Questions have been raised over Pangram's accuracy, and French media outlets have found other AI detection programmes that identified It Was That or Die as very probably written by a human.
• "I don't see why I would use a machine." He told the newspaper Libération that he used traditional language and rhythms that were Haitian and Caribbean.

What to take from it

On his own X account, Fitoussi said he had initiated his campaign because even though he was "techno-optimistic", he feared that "AI will cause the disappearance of reading and writing". "The imagery, repetition and rhythm are a living language, they are mine." View image in fullscreen Orélien at Les Correspondances literature festival in Manosque this week. On Wednesday Philippe Claudel, the Académie Goncourt's president, had urged caution over the allegations.

Example or evidence

• The Académie Goncourt will publish its shortlist on 6 October and announce the winner of the prize on 4 November.
• Explore more on these topics Prix Goncourt Awards and prizes Plagiarism Fiction France AI (artificial intelligence) Europe news Share Reuse this content Most viewed Most viewed

Details worth keeping

View image in fullscreen The novel on display inside a bookstore in Paris. Orélien, 38, has denied the allegation, saying it was racially motivated. "I've always loved creating and writing," he said.