{"id":7679,"date":"2026-06-09T09:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T07:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/booksfactory.pl\/blog\/tokarczuk-vs-ai-a-nobel-laureate-and-the-future-of-the-book\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T10:34:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T08:34:00","slug":"tokarczuk-vs-ai-a-nobel-laureate-and-the-future-of-the-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/booksfactory.pl\/blog\/tokarczuk-vs-ai-a-nobel-laureate-and-the-future-of-the-book\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Tokarczuk vs AI: a Nobel laureate and the future of the book"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Olga<\/figure>\n\n
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Olga Tokarczuk said just a few words about AI at Impact and set off a storm. We look at why authors are reacting so fiercely and what this dispute reveals about the real value of the printed book. <\/p>\n\n

What actually happened<\/h2>\n\n

At the Impact\u201926 conference in Pozna\u0144, Olga Tokarczuk spoke about artificial intelligence and its place in her own work. The Nobel laureate admitted that she reaches for modern tools with genuine fascination: \u201cI bought myself the highest, most advanced version of one language model, and I\u2019m sometimes in deep shock when I see how fantastically it broadens my horizons and deepens creative thinking.\u201d The same address, however, carried a note of melancholy. The writer spoke of a \u201cprofound, very human grief for an era that is vanishing for good\u201d \u2013 for traditional literature \u201cwritten over months in solitude, the work of a lifetime\u201d. She invoked Balzac, Cioran and Nabokov, adding that she does not believe \u201cany modern chatbot\u201d could ever speak in such an exquisite way. The strongest reaction, though, was sparked by a single sentence \u2013 the way Tokarczuk described working with the machine: \u201cI often simply toss the machine an idea to analyse and ask: darling, how might we beautifully develop this?\u201d It was this quotation that triggered the avalanche.After the wave of criticism, the writer clarified her words. She stressed that her latest novel was not created using artificial intelligence and, with a touch of humour, added that her own dreams remain her greatest inspiration to write. <\/p>\n\n

Why this discussion stirs such strong emotions<\/h2>\n\n

The dispute over a single sentence from the Nobel laureate only appears to be about Tokarczuk. In reality, it is part of a far larger conversation: about who creates literature in the age of language models, and on what terms. For many authors this is no abstraction, but a question about their own craft, status and the future of their profession. The reactions revealed a literary world that is deeply divided. It is worth examining three voices, because each represents a different stance towards AI. <\/p>\n\n

Wojciech Chmielarz: the outrage is justified, but overblown<\/h2>\n\n

Chmielarz began with irony \u2013 he admitted he had expected to find Polish authors writing with the help of AI, but \u201cit would never in his life have crossed his mind\u201d that it would be Tokarczuk of all people. Wojciech Chmielarz, one of Poland\u2019s most popular contemporary crime writers and the author of numerous bestselling novels, then turned to the heart of the matter and touched on the point at the very core of the dispute: the relationship between reader and author. <\/p>\n\n

His position can be summed up in a few points:<\/p>\n\n