A new literary prize for works co-written with artificial intelligence has launched in France, The Guardian reports. The Prix Pascal de Littérature IA was founded by three tech entrepreneurs, Philippe Rodriguez, Albin Serviant, and Gilles Mentre, who told AFP that they believe it is the first literary prize of its kind. According to the prize’s website, entries are open to anyone writing in French anywhere in the French-speaking world, with no requirement of nationality, residence, or a publisher, which means francophone writers across Africa are eligible. Self-published work counts, but books released by traditional publishers do not. Brittle Paper is reporting the news and does not endorse the prize.

The organisers’ website says the prize is “not a technology competition” and describes its aim as asking what a work of literature is when author and machine collaborate. Entrants submit three things: a roughly 4,000-character “seed” outlining the pitch, an anonymised manuscript of about 300,000 characters, and a technical file declaring which language model, agents, or prompts were used. The site says any large language model is accepted and that the declaration is for the jury’s information, not a ground for disqualification. The organisers say they want works that are original and useful, that raise an alarm, or that tackle ecological, social, or ethical challenges in a new way. The winner receives publication of their manuscript and media coverage, plus a cash award whose amount has not been disclosed.

The launch comes amid a heated debate over AI in the literary world. French literary circles have been roiled since September by allegations that Thélyson Orélien, a bestselling debut novelist, used AI to write C’était ça ou mourir (It Was Either That or Die). The novel won the FNAC prize in early September before he was accused of cheating and removed from the Goncourt shortlist, and his Montreal-based publisher, Éditions du Boréal, ended its relationship with him. The Guardian also places the launch in the context of ongoing discussion about AI use among finalists and winners of several prizes this year, including the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the Caine Prize. Meanwhile, AFP notes that established prizes are rewriting their rules to exclude AI-generated submissions and that initiatives to label books as human-written are gaining ground. The Prix Pascal’s organisers say that while others “hunt down AI using conflicting detection tools,” they want authors to declare their use openly.

The website describes a five-member panel of writers, critics, editors, philosophers, and journalists, with names to be announced in early November. Applications opened on October 20 and close on November 30. Ten nominees will be named at the end of November, and the winner will be announced in December, in early December according to the organisers’ website and in mid-December according to AFP. The prize is named after the seventeenth-century French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal, who invented one of the first mechanical calculators and wrote the Pensées.

The prize arrives as many literary organisations, including those in Africa, are working out their own policies on AI. As we reported earlier this week, the UK’s Society of Authors recently withdrew from a charter on the ethical use of AI after a backlash from its members. More details are available on the Prix Pascal website.