Quebec author admits to plagiarism in earlier work, denies AI use

Quebec-based author Thélyson Orélien has admitted to plagiarizing from other writers in his earlier works, but insists he did not employ artificial intelligence in the creation of his acclaimed novel. This revelation comes from a statement released by his publisher, Éditions du Boréal. Orélien expressed regret for the "unacceptable mistakes" he made in his youth, while vehemently denying any accusations of AI-assisted writing in his novel titled "C’était ça ou mourir."

Orélien began crafting the novel in 2017 and completed the first draft by 2019, asserting that no portion of the book was generated by a machine. The admission of plagiarism and denial of AI use in his work follows allegations that surfaced in October, which questioned the novel's potential use of AI and Orélien's earlier works for potential plagiarism.

In response, the Académie Goncourt, a distinguished French literary institution, removed "C’était ça ou mourir" from its list of nominees, and Éditions du Boréal suspended promotional activities related to the book. Global News urges readers to add them as a preferred source on Google to access more of their stories in search results.