A Japanese Author Used ChatGPT to Help Write Her Award-Winning Novel

The prestigious Japanese literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, was given to Rie Kudan. The 33-year-old writer told reporters that part of her book Tōkyō-to Dōjō Tō, or Tokyo Sympathy Tower in English, was written directly by ChatGPT. Kudan acknowledged using AI in her writing, saying that some 5% of the book was done with the technology. She also stated her intention to continue using AI to enhance her artistic expression.

Kudan's novel was praised as practically flawless. It is set in a futuristic society that relies heavily on artificial intelligence. In the book, one of the central characters is architect Sara Makina, who designs a tower for the compassionate rehabilitation of criminals, which sparks internal conflicts. The book raises questions about justice and the impact of soft words on societal concepts.

The Akutagawa Prize was named after the Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa, who worked in the early 20th century. It is awarded every two years to emerging writers like Kudan. She has become the first person to incorporate AI-generated writing and win the award. Kudan pointed out that there are challenges that come with the possibility of limitless interpretations of words. She said she desired to use language thoughtfully and consider its positive and negative aspects. She certainly went boldly into the AI text generation field using ChatGPT despite the literary landscape being full of cautionary voices on the topic. Her intention to keep working with ChatGPT will add to the ongoing discussions. As human creativity and artificial intelligence converge in Kudan's writing process, it becomes clear that this will be part of the approach to storytelling in the modern era. Debates on AI's impact on literature will probably continue, but nothing can stop authors from using it.