France launches Prix Pascal for AI co-written fiction

Three technology entrepreneurs have launched the Prix Pascal, a literary prize for unpublished French-language fiction co-written with artificial intelligence. The organisers presented it as the first prize of its kind and as a challenge to established awards grappling with how to regulate authors’ use of AI. The award is open to writers across the French-speaking world, with no nationality, residence or publishing requirement. Philippe Rodriguez, Albin Serviant and Gilles Mentre said eligible work must be fiction in French that is co-written with AI and “dares to do what has never been read before.” The prize had neither a jury nor declared prize money when it was announced, according to RTÉ. That leaves important practical details unresolved, even as organisers invite submissions for a new category of literary competition. The launch comes as publishers and awards bodies take differing approaches to AI. Initiatives to label books as human-written have gained traction, while established prizes have rewritten rules to exclude AI-generated entries. The central difficulty is defining the boundary between permissible assistance, such as research or writing advice from ChatGPT or Claude, and AI authorship. That debate has been acute in France following allegations surrounding Thélyson Orélien’s bestselling debut novel, “It Was Either That or Die.” The novel won the FNAC prize in early September but was removed from the Goncourt shortlist after allegations of AI use. Orélien denied writing it with AI, while his French publisher said he began the work in 2017 and completed a draft in 2019, before generative AI was commercially available. His Canadian publisher, Boreal, later said it had confirmed that AI was used in the writing process and ended its professional relationship with him. The dispute also raised questions about AI-detection tools and whether writers should be required to disclose how they use the technology. Submissions for the first Prix Pascal close Nov. 30, and the organisers plan to award the prize in mid-December.