Was this award-winning book written by AI?
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book → win → AI
Scandal deepens skepticism in literary world
Thélyson Orélien's debut novel shortlisted for prestigious prizes.
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novel → deepen → prizes
Then the allegations started pouring in
A Quebec-based author is at the centre of an artificial intelligence scandal shaking the French literary world and raising questions around how the industry should be using AI — and its detection tools.
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industry → start → AI
Breakthrough star Thélyson Orélien, a Canadian-Haitian poet and author, has been accused of writing his debut novel using generative AI, which he vehemently denies.
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he → accuse → which
The scandal comes as C’était ça ou mourir is being considered for various prestigious awards.
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mourir → come → awards
The allegation first surfaced Monday – the same day Orélien won the Prix du roman Fnac – on the anonymous X account "Balance ton Claude," which claims to expose AI slop.
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which → surface → slop
The account claims to have analyzed several excerpts from the book using the AI-detector tool Pangram, which found the text was “100 per cent” AI.
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text → claim → tool
CBC News replicated the Pangram experiment with different excerpts of the book, which led to the same result.
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which → replicate → result
Speaking to franceinfo Wednesday, the president of the Académie Goncourt, which shortlisted Orélien for an award, said the latter wouldn’t be disqualified unless “irrefutable evidence” were to surface.
“The academy is taking the time to consider the various factors involved in this case before making a decision that will preserve both the integrity of the prize it awards and that of its work,” Claudel Philippe told CBC in a statement Thursday.
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Philippe → speak → statement
The executive director of Writers’ Trust of Canada, David Leonard, says the question of how trustworthy these AI-detection tools are is an issue the entire industry is grappling with.
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industry → say → Canada
For now, the organization, which recognizes local writers, relies on self-declarations made by the authors.
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which → recognize → authors
But it’s exploring its options, he says.
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he → explore → options
“It's a very fast-moving issue,” Leonard said.
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Leonard → move → ?
“We don't want to be in a situation where we're getting false positives, nor do we want to be in a situation where we're using a tool that is not effective.”
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that → want → tool
On Thursday afternoon, Orélien's Montreal-based publishing house, Éditions du Boréal, announced it was suspending its press tour for the author, who is currently in France gearing up for award season.
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who → base → season
"We unreservedly condemn the hateful messages and personal attacks of recent days and call on everyone to exercise restraint," it wrote in a statement.
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it → condemn → statement
It adds that its decision is to preserve Orélien's well-being and that the book, which was published in the spring, remains available.
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which → add → spring
What happened?
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What → happen → ?
C'était ça ou mourir, which translates to "It was either that or die" tells the story of a man who undertakes a perilous journey across the Americas to escape gang violence in Haiti’s Port-au-Prince.
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who → translate → Prince
Orélien has previously said his own experience of leaving Haiti following the 2010 earthquake and stories of other migrants he met in Montreal helped shape the novel.
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he → say → novel
In a statement Tuesday evening, he attempted to soothe the scrutiny of his heavy use of metaphors and similes in the book, which many have pointed to as tells that AI was involved in the writing process.
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AI → attempt → process
"I come from a Haitian and Caribbean literary tradition in which poetry, imagery, repetition, and rhythm carry a living voice," Orélien said in the statement written in French and released by Éditions du Boréal.
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Orélien → come → Boréal
"One might debate my style, but treating its techniques as evidence of artificial intelligence has nothing to do with literary criticism," he said.
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he → debate → criticism
In the same statement, Éditions du Boréal affirmed its support for the author, saying Orélien's manuscript was drafted several years ago and evolved over multiple exchanges with his editor.
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manuscript → affirm → editor
However, new allegations have cast doubt on Orélien's credibility beyond the fiction-writing sphere.
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allegations → cast → sphere
On Wednesday, the Quebec newspaper La Presse uncovered multiple instances of possible plagiarism in Orélion’s columns across different publications dating back to 2012.
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newspaper → uncover → 2012
Radio-Canada's Décrypteurs has since verified those findings.
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Décrypteurs → verify → findings
Orélien has not addressed the compounding scandal.
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Orélien → address → scandal
Speaking to Radio-Canada’s Tout un matin Thursday morning, La Presse’s vice-president of information
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vice → speak → matin
, François Cardinal said he read the book – stopping short of calling it “incredible” – and at no point suspected the involvement of AI.
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he → say → AI
“We’ll never have a definitive answer on AI one way or the other.
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We → have → AI
We can’t prove beyond all doubt that AI was used.
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AI → prove → doubt
And we can’t prove that AI wasn’t used,” he said.
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he → prove → ?
But given the plagiarism allegations, he said the publication will likely not consider Orélien for future columns.
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publication → give → columns
In an update Thursday morning, Éditions du Boréal said it was taking stock of the newest and "very serious" plagiarism allegations.
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it → say → allegations
Thursday afternoon, the literary festival Salon du livre in the Eastern Townships announced it was dropping Orélien as its guest of honour.
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it → announce → honour
A few hours later, Éditions du Boréal announced its suspension of Orélien's press tour.
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Boréal → announce → tour
In its latest statement, it continued to defend its editorial process, adding that despite its best efforts to produce a "definitive answer" as to whether the book was written by AI, the publishing house says it is simply "impossible at this stage to confirm or deny the allegations."
"The fact remains that the novel has reached tens of thousands of readers across the French-speaking world, as well as numerous international publishers," reads the statement.
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statement → continue → world
"In the absence of serious, tangible evidence, it is not for us to decide whether it has the right to exist.
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it → decide → right
"
Tools detect AI, not ideas
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Tools → detect → AI
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
