TORONTO — In the absence of surefire technology to determine whether something was written by artificial intelligence, some Canadian publishers say they have to rely on something nearly as thorny: trust. Alana Wilcox, the editorial director of Coach House Books, wrote in an email that the company asks writers to be upfront about whether their work contains material generated by AI. She says the existing tools to discern the use of AI aren’t reliable. There is renewed attention on the role of artificial intelligence in the book industry after a Quebec publisher cut ties with an author accused of using AI to write his debut novel. Earlier this week, Montreal-based publishing house Les Éditions du Boréal said an analysis of some documents’ metadata found evidence author Thélyson Orélien used AI while writing his novel “C’était ça ou mourir” (“It was either that or dying”). Allegations that Orélien used AI in his book first emerged on social media in September. The author denied using AI to write the book but said he had used it for research. Orélien did not respond to The Canadian Press’ request for comment following the publisher’s announcement on Wednesday. Before the controversy, the novel had been nominated for several major French literary awards and won the Prix du Roman Fnac. It has since been removed from contention for France’s prestigious Prix Goncourt. Les Éditions du Boréal didn’t specify which metadata showed the AI use. And while the allegations against Orélien illustrate that trust may not always be enough, Wilcox said Coach House Books doesn’t see much of an alternative. “Our contract asks the author to affirm that their book does not contain AI-generated material. But there is no reliable way to police this: the tools that exist have proven unreliable and problematic in countless ways,” she wrote. “Nor are we interested in supporting systems that were trained on stolen material — our books,” she added, referencing the fact that AI detection tools are, themselves, artificial intelligence. Lisa Quinn, president of the Association of Canadian Publishers, said AI technology is a broad descriptor and there is nuance in how assistive AI tools can be used in the publishing industry. But she says “the publishing industry strongly believes that artistic creation, intellectual creation is a human-centred activity.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2026. Kaitlyn McGrath, The Canadian Press
