Rie Kudan used AI to help write ‘The Tokyo Tower of Sympathy’

One of Japan’s most prestigious literary prizes was awarded to a novel written with the help of artificial intelligence.

During a ceremony Wednesday awarding the Akutagawa Prize to author Rie Kudan, the writer revealed that “about five percent” of her novel was composed using the AI chatbot program ChatGPT.

Kudan’s novel “The Tokyo Tower of Sympathy,” praised by judges as “flawless,” takes place in a futuristic Tokyo with AI as a recurring theme, according to the Agence France-Presse.

The novel follows architect Sara Makina, who is building a rehabilitation center for criminals, and Takuto, a young man writing her biography. As Makina designs the tower, intended to rehabilitate criminals, her intolerance for the offenders gets in her way.

The 33-year-old author seemed unashamed that AI had so heavily impacted her writing process.

“I made active use of generative AI like ChatGPT in writing this book,” she said after she was given the award. “I would say about five percent of the book quoted verbatim the sentences generated by AI.”

Kudan said that she turned to ChatGPT to help mimic the way that “soft and fuzzy words” muddle ideas about justice.

“In recent years, we find ourselves in a situation in which words have expanded without limit, and permitted unlimited interpretations,” Kudan said after her award, according to The Times UK.

“I want to use the words with care, and to think about the positive and negative aspects of language.”

Members of the judging committee who awarded Kudan the prize said the work was “flawless” and “difficult to find any faults” in.

“It is highly entertaining and interesting work, that prompts debate about how to consider it,” said judge Shuichi Yoshida.

Kudan, who said she frequently toys with AI for inspiration, hopes to keep “good relationships” with the program and “unleash [her] creativity” with its help.

The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature, which organizes the biannual Akutagawa award, did not respond from a request for comment from AFP.

Last year, a group of 17 writers including John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and George RR Martin filed a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, for copyright infringement, warning that AI could “decimate” the writing profession.