New literary prize launched for books ‘written with AI’

Three tech entrepreneurs in France said Wednesday they had launched what they claimed was the first literary prize for books written with artificial intelligence.

Named the “Prix Pascal”, it does not have a jury yet or declared prize money, but the initiative is intended to challenge other prizes which are struggling with how to regulate AI and its use by authors.

“The prize is open to anyone who writes in French, anywhere in the French-speaking world, with no requirement of nationality or residence, and without a publisher,” said the three entrepreneurs, Philippe Rodriguez, Albin Serviant and Gilles Mentre, in a statement sent to AFP.

“Only the work itself matters: an unpublished work of fiction, in French, co-written with an artificial intelligence, that dares to do what has never been read before,” they added.

France’s literary world has been roiled since September by allegations that top-selling debut novelist Thelyson Orelien used AI to write his book “It was Either That or Die.”

It won the prestigious FNAC prize in early September before Orelien was accused of cheating, which led to him being ejected from the shortlist for the Goncourt, France’s top prize.

After weeks of denials, Orelien’s original publisher in Canada, Boreal, said Wednesday that it had “confirmed” that he had used artificial intelligence in the writing process.

Initiatives to label books as written by humans are gaining ground in the industry, while the organisers of established literary prizes are re-writing their rules to exclude AI-generated submissions.

But the issue poses thorny questions: will authors be allowed to use services such as chatGPT or Claude for research or writing advice? When does AI-assisted research become AI writing?

Submissions for the debut Prix Pascal will be accepted until Nov 30 with the prize set to be handed out in mid-December, the organisers said.