{"id":782456,"date":"2026-09-25T19:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/782456\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:08:11","slug":"novelist-accused-of-using-ai-to-write-book-removed-from-french-prize-list-prix-goncourt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/782456\/","title":{"rendered":"Novelist accused of using AI to write book removed from French prize list | Prix Goncourt"},"content":{"rendered":"

The organisers of France\u2019s most prestigious literary prize said they had removed a critically acclaimed novel by a Canadian-Haitian writer from the longlist after an anonymous online account claimed the book was \u201calmost entirely\u201d written by AI.<\/p>\n

The Acad\u00e9mie Goncourt, a Paris-based literary organisation, said on Friday its decision to withdraw Th\u00e9lyson Or\u00e9lien\u2019s novel C\u2019\u00e9tait \u00e7a ou mourir (It Was That or Die) was \u201cdriven by the desire to preserve the integrity of the Goncourt prize and the academy itself, whose central role is to promote and honour literature written by women and men\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Haiti-born author\u2019s 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 finding a haven in Canada.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The novel on display inside a bookstore in Paris. Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier\/Reuters<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

An anonymous account called Balance ton Claude \u2013 a reference to Anthropic\u2019s AI agent \u2013 said it had fed the novel into the AI detection software Pangram and found it to be \u201calmost entirely\u201d written by artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Questions have been raised over Pangram\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Or\u00e9lien, 38, has denied the allegation, saying it was racially motivated. \u201cI\u2019ve always loved creating and writing,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t see why I would use a machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told the newspaper Lib\u00e9ration that he used traditional language and rhythms that were Haitian and Caribbean. \u201cThe imagery, repetition and rhythm are a living language, they are mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or\u00e9lien at Les Correspondances literature festival in Manosque this week. Photograph: Joel Saget\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The author of the anonymous X account was later identified on the pages of the centre-right newspaper Le Figaro<\/a> as one of its own columnists, Samuel Fitoussi, the author of an essay against \u201cwokeism\u201d on film and TV.<\/p>\n

On his own X account, Fitoussi said he had initiated his campaign because even though he was \u201ctechno-optimistic\u201d, he feared that \u201cAI will cause the disappearance of reading and writing\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday Philippe Claudel, the Acad\u00e9mie Goncourt\u2019s president, had urged caution over the allegations. But separate accusations of plagiarism against Or\u00e9lien published in French media appeared to have caused a change of heart.<\/p>\n

Lib\u00e9ration alleged in an article<\/a> that the author plagiarised an award-winning short story from the preface of the French journalist Louis Pauwels\u2019 book The Morning of the Magicians, originally published in 1960.<\/p>\n

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In its statement the academy referred to the \u201cplagiarisms of which its author has been guilty over time and which have just been revealed, as well as 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\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aim is to send a clear message,\u201d it added, \u201cto affirm that we neither endorse nor condone in any way the creation of texts generated with the help of AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement shared with the Guardian, the novel\u2019s original publisher, Le \u00c9ditions du Bor\u00e9al, said: \u201cUnfortunately, at this stage, we are unable to confirm or deny the allegations the author is facing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canada-based publisher said it was important not tojump to conclusions, adding: \u201cWithout credible, concrete evidence, it is not our place to decide whether this book has a right to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bor\u00e9al said it was \u201cconcerned\u201d about the newer plagiarism allegations, but added it was important to remember there was a real person behind the book. \u201cWe unequivocally condemn the hateful messages and personal attacks of recent days, and we urge everyone to show restraint,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Or\u00e9lien has said he will not comment further on the latest allegations. Speaking on Thursday at Les Correspondances literary festival in Manosque, southern France, he said: \u201cThere\u2019s this desire not only to attack the book, but especially my voice \u2026 to silence me,\u201d adding that he would therefore \u201ctake a step back and wait until things have calmed down\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Acad\u00e9mie Goncourt will publish its shortlist on 6 October and announce the winner of the prize on 4 November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The organisers of France\u2019s most prestigious literary prize said they had removed a critically acclaimed novel by a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":782457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-782456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=782456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=782456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=782456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}