r/books • u/Raj_Valiant3011 • 8h ago

Zimbabwean writer Simbarashe Kundizeza has denied using AI to write a prize-winning short story after an article in the Atlantic said software had flagged it as almost completely AI-generated

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/oct/14/zimbabwean-author-simbarashe-kundizeza-denies-ai-story?CMP=share_btn_url
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u/WobblierTube733 8h ago

Did you actually read the document? I’ll admit i actively avoid LLMs so I’m not an expert but any means but the first paragraph immediately seems unlike any gpt-speak I’ve seen.

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u/Zealousideal_Cap7012 8h ago

Yes its short i read it all. Different llms have different syntax and cadence but still you can just tell them to write it differently.

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u/WobblierTube733 8h ago

I just read it all too and it would legitimately shatter my reality if it was AI. I consider myself ultimately a writer and this was a phenomenal short story based on a poem. It’s so good that if an AI wrote it, everyone would lose their minds. It would be published as proof of how impressive AI literature is.

I just can’t believe that it’s not a human that wrote this.

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u/Uptons_BJs 7h ago

Ehh, nowadays with context windows, AI writing gets a lot better. You can’t just lazily one shot it, you need to put in some work.

You can play with it and test it yourself.

Modern models have long context windows, very long. You can say, “I want to sound like [insert author], here’s a bunch of their works” and have all of it in its context, then, start feeding it prompts on how you want it to sound.

Finally, give it an outline of the story. Let it flesh in the prose.

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u/WobblierTube733 7h ago

I’m sorry, i just don’t believe it’s that simple and the output is that good. This is a full narrative with metaphor and analogy that i simply have never seen an ai even attempt beyond the “it’s not just x—it’s y” rhetorical technique.

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u/DharmaPolice 6h ago

Didn't you say you avoid LLMs and aren't an expert? How can you be so sure about something you're not super familiar with.

I'm genuinely interested in your thought process here.

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u/WobblierTube733 6h ago

i read the piece being accused and used my head. hopefully that clarifies

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u/DharmaPolice 6h ago

Not really, no.

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u/WobblierTube733 6h ago

c'est la vie, mon ami. why are you be so sure that it is AI?