Editions du Boréal suspends promotional tour of Thélyson Orélien's novel accused of AI and plagiarism

Editions du Boréal announced Thursday the suspension of the promotional tour of the novel by Canadian-Haitian writer Thélyson Orélien, accused of having used artificial intelligence (AI) to write It Was That or Die and of having plagiarized texts in Canada. “To ensure the well-being of Thélyson Orélien, we are suspending promotional activities surrounding the book for the moment,” said the Montreal publishing house, behind the publication of the novel in the spring in Canada, in a press release.

Boréal assured that the AI ​​had not been used since receipt of the manuscript, and that they were working in concert with the author to establish that the work had indeed been written by Mr. Orélien. “Unfortunately, it is impossible for us at this stage to deny or confirm the allegations that the author faces,” continued the editor, qualifying that we should not “draw hasty conclusions”.

Skip the ad

The Estrie Book Fair, in Quebec, also announced Thursday that it was excluding the author from its programming, indicating “that it is withdrawing from Mr. Thélyson Orélien the title of guest of honor and the invitation to participate in the two activities that appeared in the programming.” “Communication elements concerning its participation in the Estrie Book Fair will be removed from the website and social networks,” added the organizers of this fair, which is held from October 15 to 18 in the city of Sherbrooke.

“Almost entirely” written by an AI?

Author of one of the best-sellers of the fall, the 38-year-old novelist, who won the Fnac novel prize on Monday and is in the selections for several other awards such as the Goncourt, was questioned on Monday on the social network X by the anonymous account “Balance ton Claude”, until then confidential. He claimed that the book had been “almost entirely” written by artificial intelligence, after having had extracts analyzed by the American software Pangram.

Also read Controversy around Thélyson Orélien's book: can we really detect a text written by an AI?

To these accusations were added Wednesday allegations of plagiarism in Canada for texts published more than ten years ago. The Quebec daily La Presse notably indicated that it had noted that one of its columns published in 2013 was in its “almost entirety” a “slightly reworked translation” of an article published a few days earlier by the Philippine newspaper The Philippine Star, still accessible online. The writer denounced to AFP on Thursday a “desire” to “silence” him.