Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, who won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, has found herself at the center of a debate on artificial intelligence after comments she made at Impact’26 in Poznań were widely interpreted as an admission that she uses AI in her writing process. During the conversation, he described AI as a tool that can broaden creative thinking and help develop ideas. He also warned that the technology could produce factual errors. What started as a discussion about creativity and technology soon turned into a heated debate about the future of literature and the role of AI in artistic works. Tokarczuk later issued a clarification, saying that her upcoming novel was not written with AI and that she primarily uses the technology for brainstorming, developing ideas, preliminary research, and fact-checking.
What did Tokarczuk say about the use of AI?
According to Notes from Poland, Tokarczuk said he had purchased “the highest, most advanced version” of a language model and was often “deeply shocked” to see how much it expanded his thinking. She joked that she would sometimes throw ideas at the machine and ask, “Darling, how can we make this grow beautifully?”At the same event, he said that AI could help create a “symbiotic future” for writers and become an “asset of incredible proportions” in literary fiction.He also said that while writing his latest novel in Polish this autumn, he asked models what songs his characters might have danced to decades ago. Tokarczuk said that one suggestion included a wrong name, causing him to warn that users “need to be careful of hallucinations”.
Why did the reaction to the comments start?
The reaction was intensified by Tokarczuk’s status as one of Poland’s most acclaimed literary figures. As a Nobel laureate, his comments were far more significant than a casual interview. Notes from Poland reported that the comments were criticized by online commentators and some Polish writers.One of the strongest reactions came from another speaker at IMPACT’26, novelist Szczepan Twardok. In a Facebook post, he said he would have to “lose his mind” to use language models for literature. He compared entering into a relationship with a language model to “being married to a vibrator”.
Tokarczuk’s explanation
Following the backlash, Tokarczuk released a statement through his publisher and Lit Hub, saying that his comments were “misinterpreted”. She clearly said that she has not written her upcoming book using AI or with anyone else and that she has been writing alone for decades.She said she uses AI “as a tool that allows for faster documentation and fact-checking” and said she verifies information every time she uses it. Tokarczuk also stressed that none of his texts, including the novel coming out later this year, were written with AI other than “rapid preliminary research.”That clarification shifted the debate away from claims of AI-written fiction toward a broader question: How much help should writers seek from generative AI tools?
Do you think AI can increase creativity in writing?
a broader literary debate
This controversy reflects a larger debate in the publishing world. Some authors see AI as a research aid and brainstorming tool. Others also see limited use as a threat to authorship and artistic integrity.Tokarczuk’s comments touched a nerve as he presented AI as useful for creativity, while preserving traditional literature as a deeply human craft. During the same remarks, she said that she felt sadness for the fading era of solitary writing and believed that chatbots could not match a true literary voice.At the same time, writer Zymovit Szerek defended Tokarczuk and criticized the “moral outrage” surrounding his comments. He argued that people should be free to experiment with AI if they want.The Tokarczuk episode shows how quickly nuance can disappear once AI enters a conversation.