Canadian publisher says Thelyson Orelien used AI to write award-winning book, ends relationship

PARIS, Oct 21 — Canadian publishing house Les Editions du Boreal ​said on Wednesday it had ended its professional relationship with Haitian-Canadian author Thelyson Orelien after it ‌found that he had used artificial intelligence to write his award-winning book.

• ⁠Orelien's debut novel, "C'etait ​ca ou mourir" ("It was either ⁠that or die"), won a host of ‌literary awards and ‌was due to be translated into multiple languages ⁠before a little-known X ⁠account said last month that it was written almost entirely with AI

• Orelien previously denied using AI but acknowledged instances of past plagiarism. It was not immediately possible to reach Orelien for ‌comment

• Boreal said its investigation involved ​a detailed external analysis, which found traces of AI markers in the metadata of certain documents

• "We still cannot know in what capacity AI was used in the creation of 'It was either that or die,' and undoubtedly we will never have ​a definitive answer," Boreal said in a statement

• "After ‌the allegations, we ‌continue ⁠to trust Thelyson Orelien, who assured us he had never used such tools. This assertion has now been proven false," Boreal added

• Boreal said it would ‌not reprint the ​novel or publish future works ‌by Orelien

(Reporting by ⁠Makini Brice ​in Paris and Maria Cheng in Ottawa; Editing by ​Toby Chopra)

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