Who is the best ? Chat GPT or Victor Hugo ?

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In 1947, Raymond Queneau, the famous French author, published Exercices de Style (translated as Exercises in Style in English). The purpose of this book was to rewrite the same story in different styles to prove that, with the same facts, every author can tell a different story and convey a wide range of feelings.


Victor Hugo
Extract:
Surprises

How tightly packed we were on that bus platform! And how stupid and ridiculous that young man looked! And what was he doing? Well, if he wasn’t actually trying to pick a quarrel with a chap who—so he claimed, the young fop!—kept on pushing him! And then he didn’t find anything better to do than to rush off and grab a seat that had become free! Instead of leaving it for a lady! Two hours later, guess whom I met in front of Gare Saint-Lazare! The same fancypants! Receiving sartorial advice from a friend! You’d never believe it!

Dream

I had the impression that everything was misty and nacreous around me, with multifarious and indistinct apparitions, amongst whom there was one figure that stood out clearly—a young man whose too-long neck in itself seemed to proclaim the cowardly and quarrelsome character of the individual. The ribbon of his hat had been replaced by a piece of plaited string. Later, he was arguing with someone I couldn’t see, and then, as if suddenly afraid, he threw himself into the shadow of a corridor. Another part of the dream showed him walking in bright sunshine in front of Gare Saint-Lazare. He was with a companion who was saying, “You ought to have another button put on your overcoat.” Whereupon I woke up.

Is ChatGPT a great reader and a great writer? Is it able to mimic the style of any author on demand?
That’s what we aimed to explore, for several reasons.

First, if we give AI the personal letters of an anonymous citizen, will it be able to create convincing fakes that could deceive experts or law enforcement in criminal investigations?
Second, can AI accurately imitate authors like Truman Capote? Will we read "new" books by famous authors in the future? Will every citizen be able to tell their stories in the style of Victor Hugo or Émile Zola? Imagine your family history, written in the voice of Truman Capote. A reborn Hemingway?
Books written in two or three seconds on any subject you choose.

The final question touches on ethics, politics, and philosophy: Who owns a writing style? Literary experts can easily recognize the works of Zola, Hugo, Capote, and others. Yet, if ChatGPT can reproduce their styles, is that fair? After all, these writers spent years mastering their craft.

For our experiment, we chose three of the most iconic stylists in American and French literature.
We started with simple facts:

A man woke up early in the morning and decided to drink a coffee, then to smoke a cigarette. He looked at the sky. It was blue. He decided to go outside.

We asked ChatGPT to rewrite this story in the styles of Zola, Hemingway, and Capote. Here’s what it came up with:

Émile Zola (Naturalism, detailed realism):

The man stirred from sleep before dawn had fully broken, the light of the dim, cold morning barely penetrating the curtains. His limbs, heavy with the weight of a restless night, moved slowly as he rose. The kitchen was small, cluttered with the remnants of yesterday's meals, the smell of old coffee lingering in the air. He boiled water, watched the steam curl lazily into the dim light, and poured himself a bitter cup, the acrid taste spreading across his tongue. With a tired sigh, he lit a cigarette, its smoke rising to the ceiling in sluggish spirals. Outside, through the grimy windowpane, the sky was clear, a dull blue stretching endlessly over the roofs. A longing tugged at him, a need to escape the staleness of the room. He made his decision. He would go out, for there, perhaps, he might find something different, something new, even if only for a moment.

Ernest Hemingway (Simple, direct prose)::

The man woke up early. The room was cold and quiet. He made coffee, black, and drank it. Then he lit a cigarette. The smoke was sharp in his lungs. He looked out the window. The sky was blue and clear. He wanted to be outside, to feel the air on his face. So he went.

Truman Capote (Elegant, lyrical prose with a touch of melancholy):

In the soft hush of morning, before the sun had fully crept over the horizon, a man rose from his bed. He moved through the quiet apartment, the air still thick with the whispers of his dreams. In the kitchen, he made himself a cup of coffee, the scent rising gently, wrapping around him like an old memory. The first sip was warm, grounding, but his fingers soon reached for a cigarette, its smoke curling into the air like a ribbon unraveling. He wandered toward the window, gazing out at the sky—an endless expanse of blue, so pure it seemed almost unreal. The stillness beckoned. There was something about the morning, something so unspoiled, it called him to leave the safety of his walls and step outside, into the world.

Each author has a distinct voice: Zola offers vivid detail and a sense of everyday struggle, Hemingway is stark and minimalist, while Capote adds a poetic, atmospheric touch.

The market is open: Write your own book in three minutes. Welcome to our fast-book library.
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