Zimbabwean writer Simbarashe Kundizeza has denied using artificial intelligence (AI) to write the short story that won this year's Caine Prize for African Writing.
His statement comes a week after he received the £10,000 award. An article in The Atlantic reported that AI-detection software called Pangram had judged his story, The Blue Fighter, to be entirely AI generated. In a post on X, Kundizeza said: "For the avoidance of doubt, I wrote The Blue Fighter."
The claim has caused an uproar on social media. Ellah Wakatama, chair of the Caine Prize, told the BBC she was shocked that the magazine had not waited for a full investigation, and said she wished more human investigation had accompanied the software's findings.
The row follows other disputes over AI and literary prizes this year. The article's author says the software's own research shows its assessments are rarely wrong.
Source: BBC News, 14 October 2026