This week, a prize was launched for books written with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). The Prix Pascal de Littérature IA ("Pascal Prize for Literature Created with the Help of AI") accepts manuscripts written in collaboration with artificial intelligence tools, with the winner guaranteed publication of their work, UNN reports, citing The Guardian.
Details
Participants must submit an unpublished manuscript of between 10,000 and 50,000 words, as well as provide information about which AI model and which prompts were used to create the text. Any leading language models may be used, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and LLaMA. Participants may be located in any country in the world, but the entries must be written in French.
The prize is named after Blaise Pascal, a French thinker and encyclopedist who took part in the creation of one of the first mechanical calculators and also wrote theological works. These include "Pensées," which Pope Francis praised for their "philosophical depth and literary charm."
Although the competition rules call for the submission of a work of fiction, the organizers also state that the text must contribute to solving a particular ethical, social or environmental problem that threatens humanity. The prize was founded by technology entrepreneurs Philippe Rodriguez, Albin Serviant and Gilles Mantre.
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Rodriguez is a founding partner of Avolta, a consulting firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions; on the company’s website, he is described as a "leading figure in the European cryptocurrency and blockchain industry." Serviant is a digital media entrepreneur and former head of the LGBTQ+ magazine Têtu. Gilles Mantre is a former civil servant and PhD who teaches at Harvard University and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. He is also a co-founder of the online voting platform Electis.
The establishment of the Prix Pascal came amid ongoing discussions about the possible use of AI by finalists and winners of a number of literary prizes this year—including the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the Caine Prize and the Prix Goncourt (France’s most prestigious literary award).
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Applications for the Prix Pascal opened on Tuesday; participants can submit their works through the prize’s website. Registration will remain open until the end of November. A shortlist of 10 candidates will subsequently be drawn up, and the winner’s name will be announced in early December. The jury will consist of five or six writers, critics, journalists, philosophers and publishers; their names will be announced in early November.