Literary prize winner accused of using AI in award-winning story
Some AI-detecting programs have flagged the work as entirely computer-generated
A winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize has been accused of using AI to help create his prize-winning work
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Jamir Nazir, from Trinidad, won the Caribbean regional prize, worth £2,500, for his story The Serpent in the Grove, which was also published by literary magazine Granta.
But the win has sparked controversy after readers claimed the story appeared to be AI-generated.
Some said online detection tools had flagged the work as being written entirely by a computer.
Granta said it had reviewed the story after concerns were raised and concluded it was “almost certainly not produced unaided by a human”.
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Readers have since posted their own AI-detection results online, with one critic writing: “1000% AI-generated writing accompanied by an AI-generated headshot.”
They added: “Literature is dying, and the perpetuation and acceptance of this nonsense is pushing it to die faster.”
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize had praised The Serpent in the Grove as a “haunting story of poverty, betrayal and survival in rural Trinidad”.
The story was selected as the Caribbean region winner by judges led by chair English novelist and screenwriter, Louise Doughty.
Caribbean judge Sharma Taylor called the story “polished and confident, with a melodic voice that lingers long after the final line", praising Nazir’s prose as “precise yet richly evocative”, showing “a voice of restraint and quiet authority”.
A note published above the story on Granta’s website says its editors were not involved in selecting the winners, beyond copy-editing the stories after submission.
It adds: “This year, there has been speculation that some of the stories may have been at least partially AI-generated. The suggestion that writers have submitted material not authentically their own is a charge we take seriously, but until definite evidence comes to light, we will keep these stories on our website.”
One of the regional winners will go on to receive the overall £5,000 prize, awarded by the Commonwealth Foundation, which oversees the competition.
Nazir said he hoped readers would leave the story “reflecting on the quiet consequences of choices we normalise.”
This year’s judging panel selected 25 writers from 7,806 entries, with the shortlist spanning 14 Commonwealth countries.
The overall winner will be announced in late June.
