Goncourt winner Philippe Jaenada admits using AI while writing his prize-winning novel

French author Philippe Jaenada has won the Prix Goncourt, and he has admitted that artificial intelligence (AI) played a part in writing the book. He told France Inter radio that he turned to AI three times while working on L'Inconnue du quai de Javel.

The Goncourt is one of France's best-known literary prizes, awarded each year for a novel. Jaenada won it on Tuesday 3 November 2026. He later spoke about the book on France Inter's morning programme La Grande matinale, where he was a guest of presenter Ben Duhamel.

In an account published by the Guardian, Jaenada said one of his uses of AI was to insert a sentence written by ChatGPT, the chatbot made by OpenAI. His aim was to play with the reader. He said he revealed which sentence it was only to the Goncourt jurors, on the day of the award.

He also said he included a section of AI-generated text to poke fun at ChatGPT. The third use was for research. Jaenada did not describe the research in detail.

Jaenada argued that AI cannot be pushed aside. In his view, it cannot be treated as if it did not exist, and writers now have to deal with it openly. France Inter carried his comments on the subject.

For readers, the story is less about a single sentence and more about a question many writers and publishers are now asking. Should an author say when a machine has helped shape a text? Jaenada's answer, given on radio the morning after the prize, was that they should not pretend the tools are absent.

Prizes like the Goncourt usually reward the finished book, not the working method behind it. This case puts the method in the spotlight, and it raises a practical question for the book trade. Publishers, prize juries and bookshops will now have to decide how much a writer's tools matter when a book is judged.