France's prestigious Goncourt prize drops novel after author accused of using AI

A copie of the book "C'etait ca ou mourir", a novel by author Thelyson Orelien, is displayed on a table inside a bookstore in Paris, France, September 22, 2026. REUTERS Sarah Meyssonnier

PARIS, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The organisers of ⁠the prestigious Goncourt literary prize said on Friday they had removed a smash-hit ⁠novel by Haitian-Canadian author Thelyson Orelien from their longlist after accusations he used ‌AI to write it.

Orelien denied using AI to write "C'etait Ca ou Mourir" ("It Was Either That or Die") as the allegations ignited a debate about race, literary merit and originality that has roiled the French literary establishment.

The accusations about ​AI use were made this week by a little-known X ⁠account "Balance ton Claude." Essayist Samuel Fitoussi ⁠later claimed ownership of the account, saying he managed it with other unidentified individuals.

The AI accusations ⁠were ‌followed by reports that Orelien had committed plagiarism in earlier works. La Presse said that a 2012 short story by Orelien had plagiarized passages from a book by ⁠French author Louis Pauwels, while a 2013 opinion piece copied ​from The Philippine Star newspaper.

Orelien ‌has yet to respond to those accusations, and did not respond to a request ⁠for comment on ​Friday.

The Paris-based Academie Goncourt said it had taken note of the AI and plagiarism accusations, and had decided to remove his novel "to preserve the integrity of the Goncourt Prize and that of the Academie, ⁠whose central role is to promote and honour literature ​written by women and men."

The Academie said it hoped its decision would show it was fully against the "creation of texts generated with the assistance of AI," adding it would make no further comment ⁠before October 6, when it will announce its shortlist.

The debut novel by the Haitian-born author tells the story of a Haitian migrant who travels north through Latin America before ending up in Canada. It has won a host of other literary awards, and was due to be ​translated into multiple languages.

His French and Canadian publishers initially offered Orelien ⁠their full support over the AI allegations. They did not respond to requests for comment on ​Friday.

"Balance ton Claude" said that running passages through AI ‌detection tool Pangram showed the novel "was written almost entirely ​by artificial intelligence". Some experts say the reliability of AI detection tools is questionable.

(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter and Mateusz Rabiega; Editing by Makini Brice and Andrew Heavens)

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2026年9月22日，法国巴黎一家书店的桌子上摆放着作家泰莉森·奥雷利安（Thelyson Orelien）的小说《C'etait ca ou mourir》。路透社 莎拉·梅索尼尔（Sarah Meyssonnier）

巴黎，9 月 25 日（路透社）—— 享有盛誉的龚古尔文学奖的组织者周五表示，在海地裔加拿大作家泰利森·奥雷利安被指控使用人工智能创作一部畅销小说后，他们已将该小说从长名单中移除。

奥雷利安否认使用人工智能创作了《要么那样，要么死》，这一指控引发了一场关于种族、文学价值和原创性的辩论，这场辩论搅乱了法国文学界。

本周，一个鲜为人知的X账号“Balance ton Claude”提出了有关人工智能使用的指控。散文家塞缪尔·菲图西后来声称拥有该账号，并表示他与其他身份不明的人一起管理该账号。

在人工智能指控之后，又有报道称奥雷利安早期的作品存在抄袭行为。《新闻报》称，奥雷利安2012年的一篇短篇小说抄袭了法国作家路易·波维尔的一本书中的段落，而他2013年的一篇评论文章则抄袭了《菲律宾星报》。

奥雷利安尚未对这些指控作出回应，也没有回应周五的置评请求。

总部位于巴黎的龚古尔学院表示，他们已经注意到人工智能和抄袭的指控，并决定撤回他的小说，“以维护龚古尔奖和学院的声誉，学院的核心作用是促进和表彰男女作家创作的文学作品。”

法国科学院表示，希望这一决定能够表明其完全反对“借助人工智能生成文本”，并补充说，在10月6日公布入围名单之前，不会再发表任何评论。

这位海地裔作家的处女作讲述了一位海地移民一路向北穿越拉丁美洲最终抵达加拿大的故事。该书荣获多项文学奖项，并计划被翻译成多种语言。

他的法国和加拿大出版商最初对奥雷利安的人工智能指控表示全力支持。周五，他们没有回应置评请求。

“Balance ton Claude”声称，通过人工智能检测工具Pangram分析小说段落后发现，这部小说“几乎完全是由人工智能生成的”。一些专家表示，人工智能检测工具的可靠性值得怀疑。

（Gabriel Stargardter 和 Mateusz Rabiega 报道；Makini Brice 和 Andrew Heavens 编辑）

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