Artificial Intelligence

You should always make it clear to your reader which ideas are your own and which are paraphrased or quoted from other sources, and that includes generative AI. With traditional sources, you provided the publication information so that readers could theoretically find that sources themselves and read it. With AI sources, you rarely get exactly the same results twice, so the goal is to provide enough information so that your readers know where and how the content was generated.

If you use an AI tool in a functional way, for example to edit or translate your own words, you should mention that prominently in the text. If you are conducting research, the Methods section is good place. For most other essays, an acknowledgment in the introduction would be appropriate. The University of Exeter has some examples of statements you could cite or adapt for this purpose. 

Additionally, some generative AI tools will provide citations with their content. Be very cautious of these! AI tools are known to "hallucinate" or invent citations that are not real. They also sometimes get the details wrong even if they are citing something real. Bing AI provides links to the sources it cites, so it is easy to check that they are real and that the AI tool is accurately representing the information found there. 

The MLA Style blog has these recommendations for citing Generative AI:

• Author: Do not cite the AI tool as the Author
• Title of Source: Describe what was generated by the AI tool. This may involve including information about the prompt in the Title of Source element if you have not done so in the text. 
• Title of Container: Name of the AI tool
• Version: The version of the AI tool you used, be as specific as possible; this may include a date 
• Publisher: The company that made the AI tool
• Date: Date that the content was created
• Location: Give the stable, shareable URL for accessing the generated content (e.g., text, an image, etc.). For example, tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E allow you to share a link by clicking the Share link at the top of the chat conversation. If the tool you are using doesn’t provide a stable, shareable URL, provide the general URL for the tool.

Works Cited example:

“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.

Image caption example:

Fig. 1. “Pointillist painting of a sheep in a sunny field of blue flowers” prompt, Bing Image Creator DALL-E, version 2, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, labs.openai.com/.

Creative text example:

“Upon the shore . . .” Shakespearean sonnet about seeing the ocean. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

The APA Style guide treats content created by generative AI like the output of an algorithm rather than that of a personal communication (i.e. an email). Always identify large language models as such in brackets after the version information.

• Author: The company that made the AI tool
• Year: Date that the content was created
• Title/Model name: Name of the AI tool
• Version: The version of the AI tool you used, be as specific as possible; this may include a date
• URL: URL for the AI tool
• Appendix: it may be appropriate to include the full chat transcript or prompt in an appendix.

Works Cited example:

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (13 Feb. version) [Large Language Model]. chat.openai.com/chat.

Image caption suggestion (APA has not issued an specific guidance on citing AI generate images):

Fig. 1. Image generated using the prompt "Pointillist painting of a sheep in a sunny field of blue flowers," by OpenAI, Bing Image Creator, 2023 (labs.openai.com/).

Image Works Cited suggestion:

OpenAI. (2023). Bing Image Creator (DALL-E 2) [AI image generator]. labs.openai.com/.