New French literary prize to honour works created with the aid of AI
22.10.2026,
A new literary prize rewarding work created with the aid of artificial intelligence (AI) has been launched in France.
Anyone - regardless of literary experience or nationality - can submit a work written with the help of AI by the end of November, according to information published on the Prix Pascal (Pascal Prize) website.
The condition for entry is that the text must be unpublished and written in French.
The prize is named after mathematician, physicist, philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal (1623-62), author of the collection of sayings "Pensées" (Thoughts), who invented a mechanical calculator. "He is the only Western thinker to have been both a pioneer of machinery and a master of language," the prize's website said.
The competition has been running since Tuesday.
The question of just how much artificial intelligence literature can tolerate has recently sparked increasing debate within the book industry.
In September, a novel by the Canadian-Haitian writer Thélyson Orélien suspected of being written using AI was eliminated from the running for the prestigious French literary prize, the Prix Goncourt.
Orélien's Canadian publisher has now terminated its working relationship with the author, saying new findings have reinforced the suspicion that AI was involved in the novel's writing process. Orélien told the French newspaper Libération that he had used AI only for research purposes.
A jury will select the 10 finalists at the end of November, with the prize awarded in early December. The winner will receive not only prize money but also the publication of their work and media exposure.
The Canadian publisher representing Thélyson Orélien on Wednesday said it had dropped the prize-nominated writer over new information indicating that he did use artificial intelligence to write his acclaimed debut.
Issued on: 21/10/2026
By: FRANCE 24
The publisher of acclaimed Haitian-Canadian writer Thélyson Orélien said on Wednesday it had confirmed that he used artificial intelligence to help write his novel “It Was Either That or Die”.
The top-selling author has denied allegations that he used AI on his breakthrough novel and, last week, Canadian publisher Boréal had said it was standing by Orélien.
READ MORENovelist Thélyson Orélien rejects AI claims after bestseller pulled from French prize list
But on Wednesday, Boréal said it had conducted a further investigation into the allegations.
“New information, confirmed over the past few days, indicates that artificial intelligence was used in the writing process” of the novel, a Boréal statement said.
The publisher announced it was “ending its professional relationship” with Orélien.
Boréal said it did not know the extent of AI’s use in the writing process “and we will likely never have a definitive answer”.
It said it gathered all the working versions of the novel and hired an outside party to analyse the various drafts.
“The results obtained this week revealed traces of AI tags in the metadata of certain documents,” Boréal said.
Before conducting this analysis, the publisher said it had tried to work with Orélien to gather the evidence necessary to prove his innocence.
That effort was inconclusive, and Orélien “subsequently announced that he would not provide any further information”, the publisher said.
The novel about migration, known by its original French title “C’etait ca ou mourir”, had been scheduled for translation in more than 20 countries.
The book was shrouded in suspicion and withdrawn from the shortlist for France’s top book prize, the Goncourt, after tests with AI detector Pangram indicated a 100-percent probability it contained computer-generated text.
In a statement to AFP earlier this month, Orélien called the allegations “slander and heresy”.
He said he started writing the book in late 2017 “on the corner of a table” and completed a first draft in 2019 of more than 300 pages, several years before the advent of AI services such as ChatGPT.
Orélien fled his native Haiti following a 2010 earthquake that struck the Caribbean island already ravaged by poverty and unrest.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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