Prize-Shortlisted Novel Faces Unverified AI Authorship Claims

Thelyson Orelien, whose debut C'était ça ou mourir has sold more than 35,000 copies and is longlisted for France's major literary prizes, denies claims artificial intelligence wrote the book. On Sept. 21 the X account Balance ton Claude said Pangram found several passages "100% AI." The novel won the Prix du Roman Fnac and is being translated into more than 20 languages. Orelien told Libération he is preparing a dossier with publishers in France and Quebec, is angry not sad, and traces disputed repetitions to Haitian and Caribbean traditions that are his own. Grasset and Editions du Boreal said they stand alongside him. Balance ton Claude said it sees no connection between AI and skin color and asked if silence was required so AI could receive major prizes because the official author is not white. Pangram says it is 99.7% accurate; the claims and tool reliability have not been independently established. Some writers said detectors may misfire on creolised French; users also scored Orelien's rebuttal 100% AI on Pangram. Philippe Claudel of the Académie Goncourt said that if indisputable information exists by the Oct. 6 second-shortlist meeting, the matter would have to be considered carefully. Orelien has said he wrote the first draft in 2019.