Japanese writer Rie Qudan has found herself at the centre of a big debate. Her novel Sympathy Tower Tokyo won the famous Akutagawa Prize earlier this year, but soon after, Qudan admitted she used ChatGPT to help write a small part of it. Only about 5% of the book was AI-written, and it was used for a chatbot character in the story, as reported by Bloomberg. Still, this small detail created huge controversy in Japan’s literary world and beyond.
The novel has now been translated into English, which has once again brought the issue into focus.
How ChatGPT Was Used
In Sympathy Tower Tokyo, the main character talks to a chatbot called “AI-built” to ask about the origin of Japanese words borrowed from other languages.
The character complains that the bot often “mansplains” and repeats things without shame, making it sound hollow and fake.
Bloomberg reported, Qudan explained that her writing process “began with ChatGPT,” and she used it as a spark for creativity. She said that while AI can provide ideas and access to collective knowledge, only humans can bring true creativity to the page.
The book itself is not about AI alone; it tells a story of architecture, justice, and the meaning of sympathy in a future Tokyo where prisons are designed to treat inmates as people, not just criminals.
Writer’s Concerns About AI
Qudan’s honesty about using ChatGPT upset many writers because of ongoing battles around AI and copyright.
Authors argue that AI systems were trained on millions of books without permission or payment. Many fear that these tools will threaten their jobs in an already difficult profession. Dozens of lawsuits in the US are now demanding compensation.
At the same time, many writers are already quietly using AI. A study by OpenAI and Harvard found that nearly 28% of ChatGPT prompts involve writing help, and about 1.4% involve fiction.
Another survey showed that 45% of authors admitted to using AI in their work. Quadan may just be one of the first to say it out loud.
