Quebec author admits early plagiarism, denies AI wrote novel
Thélyson Orélien, the 38-year-old Haitian-Canadian author based in Quebec, has admitted past plagiarism but denies that artificial intelligence generated his novel It Was Either That Or Die.
The statements were reported on 14 October, after the author was dropped from consideration for the Goncourt Prize, France's long-running literary award for French-language fiction, according to Publishers Marketplace.
Orélien called the earlier plagiarism “unacceptable” and “a youthful indiscretion.” Canadian newspaper La Presse found substantial evidence of copied passages in work he published between 2012 and 2014. He does not dispute that finding.
The AI claim is separate. It began with an anonymous account on X, the social media platform, which accused Orélien of using AI to write the book. The accusation emerged after the book won a prestigious award on Monday. He denies it.
A report cited by La Presse on 23 September said analysis by Pangram, a software tool that estimates whether text was machine-generated, claimed 94% of the novel involved AI assistance. Orélien says he did not use AI to produce the book. The French title is C'était ça ou mourir.
The novel, a French-language story about migration published by Éditions Grasset, the Paris-based publishing house, is described by Reuters as a bestseller. CBC describes it as an award-winning debut that drew the AI accusation only after its win.
Orélien had previously said the allegation that he used AI was racially motivated, in comments reported in late September. The prize organisers have since removed the book from contention.
What makes this stand out for general readers is the split between the two issues. One is admitted. The other is contested. Publishing contracts normally require authors to warrant that the work is original, meaning the author guarantees the manuscript is their own work and accepts legal responsibility if it is not.
