Canadian Literary Groups Bar AI-Generated Works from Prizes

The Writers’ Trust of Canada and the Giller Foundation have announced that works containing AI-generated text are ineligible for their literary prizes. Both organizations rely primarily on attestations from publishers to verify that nominated books are human-authored, with the Giller Foundation describing publishers and editors as the primary gatekeepers of literary AI.

These policy clarifications follow the decision by France's Académie Goncourt to remove Canadian author Thélyson Orélien's novel, "C’était ça ou mourir," from the Prix Goncourt long list. The removal stemmed from allegations of plagiarism and the use of generative AI, which Orélien has denied.

While the Writers’ Trust of Canada utilizes a combination of human review and undisclosed tools for evaluation, it maintains that concerns are reviewed by people rather than tools alone. Simultaneously, the Canada Council for the Arts is developing a formal policy to establish clear expectations regarding AI for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, with the goal of implementing these rules by the next competition cycle.