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Home / World

Author admits she used ChatGPT to write parts of prize-winning novel

By Benedict Smith
Daily Telegraph UK·
18 Jan, 2024 11:37 PM2 mins to read

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The author of a prize-winning novel has admitted some parts were written by AI. Photo / AP

The author of a prize-winning novel has admitted some parts were written by AI. Photo / AP

The author of a prize-winning novel about artificial intelligence (AI) admitted to writing parts of the book using ChatGPT during her acceptance speech.

Rie Kudan, a Japanese author, estimated that around 5 per cent of her book, The Tokyo Tower of Sympathy, was taken “verbatim” from the chatbot.

The work was awarded the prestigious Akutagawa prize for promising new writers, with one of the judges lauding the work as “flawless”.

“I made active use of generative AI like ChatGPT in writing this book,” Kudan said in her acceptance speech.

“I would say about five per cent of the book quoted verbatim the sentences generated by AI.”

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She added that she often confides in the programme with thoughts she can “never talk to anyone else about”, and that some of the responses inspired dialogue in the book.

The Tokyo Tower of Sympathy is set in a futuristic version of Japan, where AI is a central part of everyday life.

It centres around an architect who designs a comfortable high-rise prison, but finds herself struggling in a society that seems excessively sympathetic to criminals.

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“The work is flawless and it’s difficult to find any faults,” said Shuichi Yoshida, a member of the judging committee, according to The Times.

“It is highly entertaining and interesting work that prompts debate about how to consider it.”

AI has proved highly controversial among writers and the creative industries, with critics saying it will diminish original work in favour of cheap copy recycled by algorithms.

A months-long strike in the US by the Writers Guild of America, which caused TV and film production to grind to a halt, was partially caused by concerns around the technology.

Unions claimed that studios will use AI to create early drafts of scripts, with screenwriters then hired for a lower rate to bring them up to standard.

Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, is among a number of writers who have criticised the creative power of AI.

When the programme was asked to mimic his writing style, he is reported to have said the results were “pure garbage”.

“Anyone who has ever read 300 words of mine would immediately recognise that could not possibly be by me,” he said.

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