Researcher develops AI model to simulate author Gustave Flaubert

Researcher Alexandre Gefen is developing an artificial intelligence project designed to allow users to engage in dialogue with the 19th-century writer Gustave Flaubert. The project aims to reproduce the author's specific linguistic style by training a model on his extensive literary works, notebooks, and approximately 4,500 letters.

To ensure historical accuracy and prevent anachronisms, the AI will be linked to the Gallica digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). Gefen emphasizes that the model must clearly signal when documents do not provide sufficient information to answer a query, a requirement he describes as essential for building trust.

The project requires an estimated budget of 80,000 euros to fund a one-year postdoctoral position, necessary equipment, and the training of a Mistral model. Gefen is currently seeking financial partners to realize the experiment, which involves distinguishing authentic authorial voice from machine-generated formulations.