Just like with other sources, you must cite any content you are using from an artificial intelligence generator like ChatGPT. Instructors will have different policies regarding the use of AI, so if it is allowed, you must cite the AI tool used. Use the tabs above to see how to cite AI in either MLA, APA, or Chicago style formats.
If AI is being used to help outline or draft a paper (and it is o.k. with your instructor to use AI for this purpose), you will need to acknowledge at the beginning or end of the paper the role AI played in its creation. For example, "This paper was produced with drafting support from Microsoft Co-Pilot." If AI was used extensively, you will want to explain how it was used. This can be included in the Methodology section of a more formal research paper.
If you are citing a conversation with an AI tool as a source, or as part of your study, the different citations styles have formatting guidelines for citing AI.
As with any artwork, whether human or AI-generated, you must cite the source, or in the case of AI, how it was generated. In most citation styles you only need to have a caption citing the source and not a reference citation in the reference list or works cited page.
Author - AI cannot be the author of work, only humans can be authors. Do not include the author field.
Title of source - Describe what was generated by the AI tool. This may mean including information about your prompt if you did not do that in the text of your paper.
Title of container - Name the AI tool in this field (e.g. ChatGPT).
Version - Name the version of the AI tool as specifically as possible. For example use 3.5 here if you are using ChatGPT 3.5.
Publisher - Name the company that made the tool.
Date - Give the date the content was generated.
Location - Give the URL for the content if possible. Many tools now allow you to create a URL to your AI generated conversation so use this URL in this field.
Within the text of your work (in-text citation):
While the green light in The Great Gatsby might be said to chiefly symbolize four main things: optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness (“Describe the symbolism”), arguably the most important—the one that ties all four themes together—is greed.
Works cited entry:
“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
Give the image a figure number (i.e. Fig. 1, Fig. 2) and follow MLA's formatting guidelines for AI generated content.
Fig. 1. “Pointillist painting of a sheep in a sunny field of blue flowers” prompt, DALL-E, version 2, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, labs.openai.com.
The source for this information, and a place to go for more information and examples is: https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/
Author - Use the creator of the AI as the author (e.g. OpenAI, Google, etc.)
Date - Include the date the content was generated.
Title - Use the name of the AI tool (e.g. ChatGPT, Gemini, Co-Pilot, etc.)
Version - Name the version of the AI tool as best you can (3.5, etc.)
Description - In brackets, state that it is a large language model, or another type of generative AI.
Location - Give the URL for the specific content if possible. Many tools now allow you to create a URL to your AI generated conversation so use this URL in this field.
Within the text of your work (in-text citation):
When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).
Reference list citation:
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
APA has not yet (as of July 2024) released formatting information specific to images, so cite as you would any other image, using the guidelines for AI-generated content.
OpenAI. (2023). DALL-E 2. [AI image generator]. https://openai.com/dall-e-2
The source for this information, and a place to go for more information is: https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt
Author - The AI tool is the author and if you are including it as part of a note, it could say, "Text generated by ChatGPT."
Date - Include the date the content was generated.
Publisher - Use the company that created the AI (e.g. OpenAI, Google).
Location - Provide the URL and if possible provide a URL for the specific content. Be aware of the link being publicly available as you should not include any links that require a login to access. A citation for AI content in a bibliography or reference list should ONLY be included if the URL is publicly available.
Note - in Chicago, a prompt should be included, either within the text, or if it is not part of the text, it can be included in the note.
For many types of writing it is sufficient to include the AI tool acknowledgement in the text:
The following recipe for pizza dough was generated by ChatGPT.
Footnote or Endnote for a formal citation:
1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.
Footnote or Endnote if the prompt is NOT included in the text:
1. ChatGPT, response to “Explain how to make pizza dough from common household ingredients,” OpenAI, March 7, 2023.
Chicago recommends that you cite AI-generated images like any other image and include the name of the AI tool, the AI company, and the prompt that generated the image.
“A modern office rendered as a cubist painting,” image generated by OpenAI’s DALL·E 2, March 5, 2023.
The source for this information is: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Documentation/faq0422.html