France's top literary prize winner touts using AI
The winner of France's top literary prize Prix Goncourt said he used artificial intelligence in his acclaimed book to "play with the reader."
Philippe Jaenada, who was announced as the winner of the 2026 prize for his novel "L'Inconnue du quai de Javel" (The Unknown Woman of the Quai de Javel), admitted to using AI three times in the writing process.
His comments came amid a worldwide backlash against academics and authors, including exclusion from literary competitions, over allegations of using the technology in their writing.
Jaenada told France Inter radio that he first used AI to insert a sentence written by ChatGPT, in order to "play with the reader."
The 62-year-old author revealed the sentence to the Goncourt jury on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
"If it gets out, I'll know where it came from," he quipped.
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On another occasion, he used AI "to make fun of ChatGPT a little, which gives completely absurd answers about a technical detail."
Jaenada said he also used AI for technical research.
"I don't think you can push AI away; you can't act like it doesn't exist. You have to use it, you have to acknowledge it, you have to tame it and not let yourself be replaced. It has to be useful," he said.
His true crime novel explores an unsolved murder of a young woman from Brittany in the late 1940s.
Once considered a frontrunner for the Prix Goncourt, Haitian-Canadian author Thelyson Orelien had his novel withdrawn from the shortlist amid speculation he used AI to write his novel "C'etait ca ou mourir" ("It Was Either That or Die").
Orelien's Canadian publisher last month confirmed he had used AI to help write the book and was severing professional ties with the author.
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