Organizers of the prestigious Goncourt Literary Prize announced on Friday that Haitian-Canadian author Thérison Aurélien’s blockbuster novel has been removed from the shortlist following accusations that it used AI in its writing.
Aurelien denied using AI to write “C’etait Ca ou Mourir” (“It was either that or die”), as the allegations sparked debates over race, literary value and originality that have rocked the French literary world.
This week, accusations about the use of AI were made by a little-known X account called “Balance ton Claude.” Essayist Samuel Fitussi later claimed ownership of the account, saying he was managing it along with other unidentified individuals.
AI’s accusations were followed by reports that Aurelian had committed plagiarism in previous works. La Presse said Aurelien’s 2012 short story plagiarized a passage from a book by French author Louis Powell, and his 2013 op-ed was copied from the Philippine Star.
Mr. Aurelien has not yet responded to the accusations and did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The Paris-based Académie Goncourt noted the AI and plagiarism accusations and said it had decided to remove his novel “in order to preserve the integrity of the Prix Goncourt and the academy, whose central role is the promotion and honor of literature written by women and men.”
The academy said it hoped the decision would demonstrate its complete opposition to “the creation of texts generated with the assistance of AI”, adding that it would not make any further comment until October 6, when it announces the shortlist.
The Haitian-born author’s debut novel tells the story of a Haitian immigrant traveling north through Latin America before reaching Canada. The work won many other literary awards and was to be translated into multiple languages.
His French and Canadian publishers initially offered Mr. Aurelien full support regarding the AI allegations. He did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Balance Ton Claude said running the text using the AI detection tool Pangram showed that the novel was “written almost entirely by artificial intelligence.” Some experts say the reliability of AI detection tools is questionable.
