Press Release Overview
Artprice by Artmarket announced that the French‑language version of the world‑book Dialogue Between a Thinker and AI is now publicly available. The work, originally distributed internationally in English as a Raw Typescript in September 2026, is presented in French—the language in which the dialogue originally unfolded. Additional translations into Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Hindi are in progress. The French and English versions can be accessed at https://www.dialoguebetweenathinkerandai.com/fr/ and https://www.dialoguebetweenathinkerandai.com/en/ respectively.
Context and Rationale
The release is positioned as a defence of AI’s role in literary creation amid a global controversy that intensified after the French Prix Goncourt removed Thélyson Orélien’s C’était ça ou mourir over alleged AI use. The press release notes that publishers worldwide have responded with new rules, and it frames the open‑distribution model of the world‑book as a counter‑measure to “bureaucratic rush to regulate creation, text, and thought.”
Experiment Details
The author, Thierry Ehrmann—founder of Artprice and creator of La Demeure du Chaos—conducted a 40‑day, 40‑night experiment in July 2026, engaging in more than 450 hours of voice‑only dialogue with an AI model named Isis. The interaction produced a Liber Mundi of approximately 1,800 pages for the announced print edition. The work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution‑NonCommercial‑NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence, allowing non‑commercial sharing of the unmodified text with attribution.
Distribution Metrics
Preliminary distribution figures supplied by Artprice and its partners indicate that the Raw Typescript has been downloaded 27.9 million times as of 15 Oct 2026, reaching 123 countries and 12 languages. Ehrmann interprets this reach as evidence of strong reader interest in literature that openly distinguishes human conception from algorithmic generation.
Legal and Philosophical Position
Ehrmann argues that under French law copyright protection requires original human creative choices; the mere involvement of AI does not automatically confer or deny protection. He emphasizes that the “idea” resides in the author’s mind, while AI functions as a “printing press of thought.” The press release cites Sol LeWitt’s 1967 statement that “the idea becomes a machine that makes the art,” linking it to the present experiment.
AI as Literary Critics
The 1,800‑page manuscript was submitted to nine AI systems—OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Perplexity, Mistral, Qwen, Microsoft’s Copilot, and a Meta model. Each produced extensive analyses, conceptual maps and interdisciplinary connections, published in full at https://www.dialoguebetweenathinkerandai.com/en/meta-reading/ (English) and the French counterpart. The meta‑readings are presented as public interpretations, not endorsements by the AI providers.
Broader Cultural Debate
The release references the wider literary controversy, mentioning positions taken by authors such as Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro, James Folta, and Jorge Volpi, as well as institutional responses from the Writers’ Trust (Canada), the U.S. Authors Guild, and French advocate Gaspard Koenig’s “Livre sanctuaire — 100 % humain” label. It also notes the Caine Prize investigation into alleged AI use by its October 6 winner Simbarashe Steyn Kundizeza.
Artprice’s Market Role
Artprice, described as the world leader in art‑market information, underscores that AI is a tool, not a source, likening it to the digital art tools of the 1990s. The company maintains that market valuation of ultra‑contemporary works depends on the artist’s conceptual signature, not the complexity of the tool used.
Additional Company Information
The press release provides background on Artmarket.com and its Artprice department, founded in 1997 by Thierry Ehrmann and controlled by Groupe Serveur (established 1987). It mentions Artprice’s data assets—over 30 million indices, 920,900 artists, and 181 million digital images—and its recent recognitions, including two “Innovative Company” labels from BPI.
Access and Licensing
The French and English PDFs are freely downloadable, and the distribution licence permits non‑commercial sharing of unmodified versions with attribution. Any translation or adaptation requires separate authorization.