Canadian publisher Boréal ends relationship with novelist Thélyson Orélien over alleged use of AI

Canadian publisher Les Éditions du Boréal has ended its professional relationship with Haitian Canadian writer Thélyson Orélien after an investigation found that artificial intelligence was used in the writing of his novel “C’était ça ou mourir” (It Was Either That or Die). The decision, announced Wednesday, came after the publisher gathered all working versions of the novel and hired an outside party to analyze drafts. The results revealed traces of AI tags in the metadata of certain documents.

Boréal had initially stood by Orélien last month when he was withdrawn from France’s prestigious Prix Goncourt list following AI detector Pangram tests that indicated a 100% probability of computer-generated text. The publisher had attempted to work with Orélien to gather evidence to prove his innocence, but the effort was inconclusive. Orélien subsequently announced that he would not provide any further information.

Investigation and denial

In a statement, Boréal said, “New information, confirmed over the past few days, indicates that artificial intelligence was used in the writing process.” The publisher acknowledged that the extent of AI use is unknown, adding, “and we will likely never have a definitive answer.” Orélien has repeatedly denied using AI to write the novel, calling the allegations “slander and heresy” in an interview with Agence France-Presse earlier this month.

Orélien, 38, told AFP that not a single sentence in the book was created by a machine, nor the meaning or structure of a story that comes from his gut. He said he used AI tools only for research, particularly for foreign idioms. On Wednesday, he told Libération that he used AI “in the creative process” for “historical research.” He stated that he started writing the book in late 2017 and completed a first draft of more than 300 pages in 2019, several years before the advent of AI services such as ChatGPT.

The novel, about migration, was scheduled for translation in more than 20 countries. Orélien, who fled his native Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, also admitted to “unacceptable mistakes” in past writing regarding separate plagiarism allegations, saying he was young and impatient at the time. He expressed that what he is experiencing has “gone way too far.”