'C'était ça ou mourir': French literary sensation faces claims of using AI
Quebecois writer of Haitian origin Thélyson Orélien, longlisted for several major literary prizes, rejects accusations from the "Balance ton Claude" account and says in a statement he has faced racist attacks since arriving in France.
On September 21, an anonymous X account named Balance ton Claude alleged that Thélyson Orélien's debut novel "C était ça ou mourir" was entirely written by artificial intelligence. The novel, which has sold over 35,000 copies, is in contention for several prestigious French literary prizes. The accusations were based on tests conducted using the highly sensitive US tool Pangram, which claims a false-positive rate of only 0.0041%.
The 38-year-old Haitian author, known for his poetry, has been accused of repeating patterns typical of AI-generated text. However, Orélien's publisher Grasset and the author himself deny the claims, stating that the repetitions are part of a Haitian and Caribbean literary tradition. Orélien argues that accusing his work of AI involvement is an attack on literary criticism, while Grasset maintains its continued confidence in the author.
Journalists and critics have responded to the controversy with mixed opinions, with some defending the novel's unique style and others finding it mediocre and repetitive.
Written by urgent.news from Euronews's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
