Key Facts

• Jamir Nazir won the overall Commonwealth short story prize for "The Serpent in the Grove."
• Some social media users accused the story of being written by AI.
• The Commonwealth Foundation reviewed drafts and documents to check if AI was used.
• The foundation concluded that Nazir wrote the story himself without AI.
• Nazir received an extra £2,500 on top of his regional prize money.
• Nazir said he wrote several drafts and used speech-to-text software on his phone.
• Some critics pointed out writing styles they felt were typical of AI, but the foundation defended the writer’s originality.
• The foundation warned that AI-detection software is not always reliable and can wrongly accuse writers, especially those from diverse backgrounds.