A new French literary prize is inviting authors to submit books co-written with artificial intelligence, with the winning manuscript promised publication.
A new literary prize for books written with artificial intelligence (AI) has launched in France, inviting authors to submit manuscripts created with the help of tools including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and LLaMA.
The Prix Pascal de Littérature IA opened for entries on Tuesday (20.10.26) and will award publication to the winning manuscript.
Entries can come from anywhere in the world but must be written in French.
Applicants must submit an unpublished work of fiction between 10,000 and 50,000 words, alongside details of the AI model and prompts used to produce the text.
The prize is named after Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician, philosopher and polymath who helped develop one of the world’s first mechanical calculators and wrote the theological work Pensées.
Although the competition is seeking fiction, its rules also say entries should help address an ethical, social or ecological problem threatening humanity.
The prize was founded by technology entrepreneurs Philippe Rodriguez, Albin Serviant and Gilles Mentré.
Rodriguez is a founding partner at mergers and acquisitions advisory firm Avolta, while Serviant is a digital media entrepreneur and former chair of LGBTQ+ magazine Têtu.
Mentré is a former civil servant with a PhD in philosophy who teaches at Harvard and the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
The launch comes after months of debate over the use of AI in literary competitions, following controversy involving several major prizes this year, including the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the Caine Prize, and France’s prestigious Prix Goncourt.
The Prix Pascal explicitly embraces AI-assisted writing, asking entrants to disclose the technology used in creating their manuscripts rather than treating its use as a potential breach of competition rules.
Applications will remain open until the end of November, with a shortlist of 10 entries due to be announced before the overall winner is selected in early December.
The judging panel will consist of five or six writers, critics, journalists, philosophers and publishers. Its members are expected to be announced in early November.
Prize launches for books written by AI
