Top Japanese Literary Prize Recipient Acknowledges ChatGPT's Role In Writing Novel

Rie Kudan, a Japanese author honored with the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for literature, has disclosed that she employed the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT in crafting certain sections of her latest book.

The 33-year-old writer received the accolade for her science fiction novel 'Tokyo-to Dojo-to (Tokyo Sympathy Tower)' last week, with judges praising the work as "practically flawless".

In her acceptance speech, she said, "This is a novel written by making full use of a generative AI like ChatGPT, and probably about 5 percent of the whole text is written directly from the generative AI. I would like to work well with them to express my creativity."

The book, centered on the theme of artificial intelligence, explores the challenges confronted by an architect tasked with designing a modern high-rise correctional facility in Tokyo, where offenders undergo rehabilitation for their crimes.

Kudan is not the first artist to use AI for work. In 2023, German artist Boris Eldagsen used AI to create his photograph and later rejected the prize from Sony World Photography Awards, highlighting the unpreparedness of such competitions for AI-generated entries.