AI writing accusations fail to stop Jamir Nazir from winning Commonwealth short story prize

Caribbean writer Jamir Nazir has won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for his story 'The Serpent in the Grove', despite facing allegations that he used AI to write it.

After the story was selected as the best from the Caribbean region in May, many users on X and Bluesky claimed it was written using artificial intelligence. The controversy led literary magazine Granta to withdraw from its agreement to publish the winning story.

The Commonwealth Foundation then reviewed the author's drafts, timestamped documents and writing notes. After the investigation, the foundation's Director General, Rajmi Farook, said no evidence of AI use was found.

Jamir Nazir, who had already received £2,500 as a regional winner, will receive an additional £2,500 as the overall winner.

Judging panel chair Louise Doughty described the story as "original, poetic and moving."

In a video response to the allegations, Nazir said he had written six to seven drafts of the story. He used speech-to-text software on his phone and carefully edited each line before moving to the next. He said it was this slow and careful process that gave the story its sophistication.

He said the inspiration for the story came from his childhood in a village in Trinidad, where he would pass sugarcane workers on his way to school and listen to their conversations, laughter and stories.

During the controversy, many ran the story through AI-detection software and claimed it was AI-generated. However, the Commonwealth Foundation said the results of such software are not always reliable and based their decision on the author's creative process and documentary evidence rather than software results.

The foundation said relying solely on AI-detection software could damage the credibility of literary awards and unfairly target writers with unconventional styles.