Novelist Thelyson Orelien denies AI use, admits past plagiarism 'mistakes'

Centre · 2Thelyson Orelien, a 38-year-old top-selling Haitian-Canadian writer, denied on Tuesday 13 October that he used AI to write his debut novel, in his first detailed response to the scandal. 1 2 Centre · 1The French-language novel about migration, "C'etait ca ou mourir" ("It Was Either That Or Die"), was set to be translated in more than 20 countries but has been withdrawn from the shortlist for France's Goncourt prize after tests with the AI detector Pangram indicated a 100-percent probability that it contained computer-generated text. 1 Centre · 1In a statement sent exclusively to AFP, Orelien called the claim "slander and heresy". He said he used tools "here and there" for research, particularly for foreign idioms, but that not a single sentence, nor the meaning or structure of the story, was created by a machine. 1

Centre · 1He said he began writing the book in late 2017 "on the corner of a table" and finished a first draft of more than 300 pages in 2019, several years before AI text generators such as ChatGPT appeared. 1 Centre · 1Last month, at the height of the media storm, Orelien had promised to provide "proof" the book was written without AI. He has not made early drafts available, and his Canadian publisher Boreal has said it cannot categorically confirm or deny the allegations. 1 Centre · 1AFP said Pangram is considered one of the most reliable detectors and that its own test of an excerpt also indicated a 100-percent probability of AI use. Other detection tools gave a range of results, from "very likely" human-written to "100 percent" AI-generated. 1

Centre · 2Orelien also addressed plagiarism evidence that emerged in media reports in the weeks after the AI claims, notably over a newspaper column and a short story written before the novel. He admitted to "unacceptable mistakes" without naming specific cases, said he was just over 20 and too impatient, and apologised "without reservation". 1 2 Centre · 1AFP described the affair as one of the biggest AI scandals in the literary world, raising questions about whether AI use is acceptable for novelists and about the reliability of AI-detection apps. Orelien fled Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. 1