Short story accused of being written by AI wins overall Commonwealth Prize | books

A story widely accused on social media of being written using artificial intelligence has won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Overall Short Story.

Jamir Nazir’s story The Serpent in the Grove went viral after it was chosen as a regional winner in mid-May, with critics of X and Bluesky claiming it showed “clear signs” of using artificial intelligence. The literary magazine Granta subsequently withdrew from its long-standing agreement to publish the winners in the Commonwealth.

In the wake of the controversy, the Commonwealth Foundation conducted a review of the regional winners, which it said included looking at time-stamped drafts, documents and memos. The Foundation’s Director General, Razmi Farouk, said, “We are satisfied with the testimonies of our writers and their confirmation that they do not use artificial intelligence in their writings.”

Nazir will receive an additional £2,500 on top of the £2,500 he won for being named the Caribbean winner last month. Jury chair Louise Doughty described Nazir’s work as “an original, poetic and deeply moving story”.

The story includes several “not x, but y” constructions and lists of three, which some consider signs of the use of artificial intelligence. Critics also drew attention to certain lines, including: “The galvanizing sun is a cruel tool”; “She had the kind of walk that made chairs become men”; And “Marsha lived two bends down… [she was] “Big in the way of women who never apologize for furniture.”

In a film released by the Commonwealth Foundation on Tuesday, Nazir says that VS Naipaul and Derek Walcott had a major influence on him. He adds that he wrote six or seven drafts of his award-winning story, and also talks about his use of speech-to-text software, explaining that he could only see three or four lines of text on his phone screen at a time, so he perfected each line before moving on, and so his story ended up being “very polished.”

“This story started in my childhood in rural Trinidad,” he said of the inspiration behind his story. “Every day, I walked to school past the rum shops where cane workers and laborers gathered. I remember the sounds, the laughter, the arguments and the conversations that shaped village life.”

Initial social media reaction to the Commonwealth Foundation’s announcement of Nazir’s win was negative, with one

After Nazir was announced as the winner at the regional level in May, some social media users reported his story being spread through an AI detection program. “Pangram says 100%, but also, if you know you know,” said Wharton professor Ethan Mollick. However, the reliability of AI detection software has been questioned.

Speaking to The Guardian, Farouk said: “Instead of handing over our verdict to the AI ​​detection programme, we asked the winners to show drafts of their work, outlines and evidence of their artistic journey. It must be said that this program is not infallible: it makes inconsistent judgements and, in doing so, erodes the trust on which the award depends.”

She added: “When the default voice of the instrument is the urban voice, the writer who does not fit the expected mold is the first to fall under suspicion.” “The more astonishing her talent, the more uncommon her brilliance, the more easily she can be accused of being a machine. The young writer in Kingston or Kolkata, in Kuala Lumpur or Kigali, must now prove not only her talent, but her very humanity.”

Nazir did not provide any comment in response to the Guardian’s request.