Grasset defends Thélyson Orélien against accusations of using AI for his novel

The Grasset publishing house spoke out Tuesday in a reaction to AFP “against any malicious remarks” addressed to the Canadian-Haitian writer Thélyson Orélien, the target of attacks accusing him of having used artificial intelligence to write his novel It was that or die.

These remarks “peremptorily assert that the book would have been nourished or written by an AI” and “horribly hurt the writer with an exceptional career”, continues Grasset, defending a “man who came to Paris to defend his original, powerful creative work”.

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The publisher's teams “renew their absolute trust in him, their admiration for his poetic work carried out for twenty years, their friendly and unique proximity, against any machine or attempt to measure, standardize or silence writings that are forever free,” according to the press release.

Accusations launched against X

The 38-year-old author, winner of the Fnac Prize on Monday, is at the heart of a controversy after accusations launched against X by an anonymous account, “Balance ton Claude”, claiming that the novel had been “almost entirely” written by artificial intelligence. This post, which has become very viral, has been shared more than 1000 times and has accumulated more than 3 million views.

“I started writing It Was That or Dying in the fall of 2017 and I completed the first draft in 2019,” defends Thélyson Orélien, according to a statement reported by Grasset. “We can discuss my style, but turning its processes into proof of artificial intelligence has nothing to do with literary criticism.”