Literary Prize Winner Reveals ChatGPT Use in Novel

From the report

On one hand, there’s a debate about the use of artificial intelligence in literature, and on the other, a French author who won the country’s most prestigious literary award has confessed to using the technology. French writer Philippe Jaenada had hidden a ChatGPT-generated sentence in his novel. He even challenged readers to find that sentence. In the end, he himself revealed the mystery. His confession has rekindled discussions about the role of AI in literary practice and the question of authorial creativity.

On November 3, 2026, 62-year-old Philippe Jaenada received the Prix Goncourt award for his novel, L’Inconnue du quai de Javel. The day after winning the award, in an interview with France Inter radio station, he stated that he had used artificial intelligence three times while writing the novel. However, he clarified that it wasn’t for writing the entire book, but rather for research, verifying a technical detail, and playfully engaging with readers using ChatGPT.

Jaenada’s most amusing act was hiding a ChatGPT-generated sentence within his novel. He had challenged readers to identify which sentence in the book was written by artificial intelligence. He claimed to have received about 70 answers from readers, but none were correct.