Rie Kudan, a Japanese author who won the country’s highest literature award, revealed she used the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT to write part of her work. Her sci-fi novel Tokyo-to dojo-to (Sympathy Tower Tokyo) revolves around the theme of artificial intelligence (AI) and was lauded as “practically flawless” by the judges.
Kudan is the 170th winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, named after renowned early 20th-century Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa. In her acceptance speech, she brewed controversy by being open about using AI.
“This is a novel written by fully using a generative AI,” Kudan said after receiving the award. “About 5 percent of the text is written directly from the generative AI. I want to work well with them to express my creativity.”
Why did Kudan use AI in the ‘Sympathy Tower Tokyo’?
The book is set in a futuristic Tokyo city, where generative AI is used everywhere. It follows Sara Makina, a female architect tasked with creating an innovative and compassionate prison in central Tokyo called Sympathy Tower Tokyo. In this near-future society, criminals are seen as a product of their environment, meaning they are victims themselves, deserving sympathy.
However, Sara begins to develop “misgivings about the project,” and we see her discomfort about society’s new “radical sympathy” toward brutal offenders. Eventually, she starts interacting with an AI chatbot to seek solace.
Another theme in Sympathy Tokyo Tower is the use of language in our modern world. The main character dislikes using foreign loanwords where Japanese words would suffice. She thinks loanwords muddle the meanings and ideas of Japanese words.
To produce these modern “soft and muzzy” words, Kudan turned to AI. In a later interview, Kudan clarified she only used AI “verbatim” in places where Sara seeks direct answers with the help of generative AI.
“In scenes in the novel where generative AI appears, using an AI’s words was necessary, and I think it produced a really good effect. However, the idea for the novel, the prose and dialogues in sections without AI, and the characterization of the people whose words and thoughts are being infringed upon by AI are all original,” Kudan said.
Controversy surrounding AI use as an author
When Kudan admitted to using AI for small portions of her novel, social media opinion was divided. Some believe it was a creative integration of AI-generated text in her book. On the other hand, some people think artificial intelligence is undermining artists’ work by cheaply producing art and literature.
Recently, famous authors such as George RR Martin, John Grisham, and Jonathan Franzen, among other authors, came together to sue OpenAI for “systemic theft” and copyright violation of their work. They believe chatbots like ChatGPT mark the proliferation of subpar literature and the demise of “real art.”
In 2023, another artist sparked a debate over AI when his AI-generated image won the creative category of the Sony World Photography Awards in mid-March. This image, “Pseudomnesia: The Electrician,” was submitted by Boris Eldagsen, who later rejected the award, saying people are still not ready for AI.
Although Kudan’s work was criticized online, with some saying she didn’t deserve the prestigious prize, judges and other reviewers had nothing but praise for it. Editor Edward Kirke, who has acquired world rights to publish the book in different languages, said:
“Sympathy Tower Tokyo is a revelation: a propulsive, prophetic novel that brilliantly defends the power of language written by humans, touches on the creative impulse, and often hilariously mocks our modern world’s unrelenting conformity. I couldn’t be more excited to be publishing this extraordinary book.”
The future of generative AI in Kudan’s work
Kudan says that although AI was part of her writing process, her “comments were overblown.” Despite the criticism, she still believes authors and artists can use AI to boost their creativity and explore new avenues.
She told CNN: “I plan to continue profiting from AI in writing my novels while letting my creativity express itself to the fullest.”
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