Publisher Boréal ends ties with author Thélyson Orélien, says AI was used in novel

Canadian publishing house Boréal (Les Éditions du Boréal) announced on Wednesday that it was ending its professional relationship with Haitian-Canadian author Thélyson Orélien, according to France 24 and Reuters.

Boréal said the decision followed a finding that artificial intelligence was used in the writing of his novel It Was Either That or Die (C'était ça ou mourir). France 24 quoted the publisher's statement: "New information, confirmed over the past few days, indicates that artificial intelligence was used in the writing process". Boréal said it did not know the extent of that use, "and we will likely never have a definitive answer".

Orélien has previously denied using AI. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not include any response from him to Wednesday's announcement.

Background

According to France 24, Boréal had said the previous week that it was standing by Orélien. France 24 reports that the novel was withdrawn from the shortlist for France's Goncourt prize. This followed tests with the AI detector Pangram, which indicated a 100-percent probability that the book contained computer-generated text. The reports do not describe the detector's reliability or error rate.

According to France 24, the novel had been scheduled for translation in more than 20 countries. The reports do not say what will happen to those translations or to existing copies. France 24 also reports that Orélien left his native Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

The outlets describe the book differently. Reuters calls it "award-winning". France 24 calls the author "prize-nominated". The reports do not say which award, if any, the book won.

What is disputed

The central question is whether Orélien used AI to write the novel. Boréal says new information, including AI tags that an outside analyst found in the metadata of certain draft documents, indicates that he did. The reports do not identify the analyst, describe the methodology, or explain what the tags are or whether they could have other explanations.

What each side says

Boréal: The publisher says it conducted a further investigation, gathered all working versions of the novel and hired an outside party to analyse the drafts. "The results obtained this week revealed traces of AI tags in the metadata of certain documents," France 24 quoted the statement as saying. Boréal says it first tried to work with Orélien to gather evidence that would prove his innocence. That effort was inconclusive. According to the statement, Orélien "subsequently announced that he would not provide any further information".

Orélien: In a statement to AFP earlier this month, as reported by France 24, Orélien called the allegations "slander and heresy". He said he began the book in late 2017 "on the corner of a table". He said he finished a first draft of more than 300 pages in 2019, several years before services such as ChatGPT existed.

Analysis

The case shows how hard it is to settle questions of AI use in creative work. Boréal itself says the extent of any AI use is unknown and may never be established. Its conclusion, as reported, rests on metadata findings by an unnamed analyst. The earlier Pangram detector test, which preceded the book's withdrawal from the Goncourt shortlist, is not described in the reports as part of Boréal's decision, and its error rate is not given. Orélien's account of a draft written before tools like ChatGPT existed remains unaddressed by the published evidence. Possible next steps could include a response from Orélien, disclosure of the analysis, or decisions on the planned translations. Each could shape how publishers handle similar disputes.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.