France’s Académie Goncourt removed Haitian-Canadian author Thelyson Orelien’s “It Was Either That or Die” from its prize longlist after allegations he used AI to write it. Orelien denied using AI; the academy said it acted to protect the prize’s integrity.
The AI accusations surfaced this week through the X account “Balance ton Claude.” Essayist Samuel Fitoussi later claimed ownership of the account, saying he managed it with other unidentified people. The account said Pangram analysis showed the novel was “written almost entirely” by AI, though some experts question the reliability of AI detectors.
La Presse also reported plagiarism allegations involving Orelien’s earlier work: a 2012 short story allegedly used passages from a book by French author Louis Pauwels, while a 2013 opinion piece copied from The Philippine Star. Orelien had not responded to those claims by Friday. His French and Canadian publishers initially supported him over the AI allegations but did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment Friday. The academy said it would make no further comment before announcing its shortlist on October 6.
