Thélyson Orélien, a Canadian-Haitian author, has denied accusations that he used artificial intelligence to write his debut novel, "It Was Either That or Die," which has garnered multiple French literary awards. The allegations emerged from an anonymous account on X (formerly Twitter), named "Balance ton Claude," which claimed that the novel was produced "almost entirely" by AI. This post went viral, accumulating over 3 million views, despite the account having fewer than 100 followers.
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"Balance ton Claude" stated it utilized the AI detector Pangram, labeling it the "most reliable" tool for such analysis. The account claimed its tests indicated a consistent 100% AI origin for several passages of the manuscript.
In response to the charges, Orélien spoke with France's Liberation, asserting, "I've always loved creating and writing, I don't see why I would use a machine." He is reportedly preparing documentation with his publishers to demonstrate his authorship. Orélien also suggested that the allegations might be racially motivated.
Boreal, the Montreal publishing house that acquired the rights to his book, acknowledged the allegations but reaffirmed its confidence in his work. Other AI detection tools, including InVID-WeVerify—co-created by AFP—yielded different results, with one asserting the passages were "very likely written by a human."
In addition to the AI allegations, Orélien faces further scrutiny for plagiarism. The Quebec newspaper La Presse reported that he allegedly copied entire paragraphs during his past tenure as a freelance contributor. Notably, a column published under his name in 2013 was revealed to be a direct translation of an article from The Philippine Star.
Furthermore, La Presse's deputy editor, François Cardinal, highlighted other instances of potential plagiarism on Orélien's blog, as well as various articles where he allegedly borrowed content improperly. Orélien's work has also been linked to similar accusations involving content from sources ranging from journalists to notable authors such as Alvin Toffler and Victor Hugo. The controversy has prompted social media users to scour his past publications for additional examples.