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APA Citation Guide (7th edition) : Artificial Intelligence (ChatGPT, DALL-E, etc)

Before Citing AI

  • Before using ChatGPT or other generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, make sure to check with your instructor if you can do so, and if so what exactly is permitted for a specific assignment. 

  • If you are permitted to use ChatGPT or similar AI, evaluate the content carefully and critically. Content produced may contain incorrect or biased and therefore unreliable information. These tools may also infringe on your privacy (e.g. collecting data about you and sharing it), so use them with caution. Consider using more authoritative, reliable, secure sources instead.
  • If you are permitted to use AI-generated content, make sure to cite the information you use in the text and in the reference list. We also recommend adding an acknowledgement. 

Acknowledgments

This page was adapted from Ulrike Kestler's (KPU Library) APA Citation: Artificial Intelligence: ChatGPT page shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. 

Recommendations when using AI

We also recommend that you include the following:

  • Written acknowledgment of the generative AI tool used and for what purpose
  • The prompt(s) used to generate the content 
  • A note about your modifications
  • Include the original output with your submission in an Appendix
  • In-text citation and reference list citation

See APA Style's How to cite ChatGPT for examples of acknowledging your use of AI in the body of your assignment.

How to Cite AI Generated Text

When you quote, summarize or paraphrase AI generated text, you must cite it in-text and in your reference list. 

Reference List format: 

 Name of Company/creator of generative AI Tool. (Year). Name of Tool (Month Date version) [Large language model]. URL.

Reference List Example

OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (Aug 28 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
In-Text Citation Examples

(Name of Company, Year)

Example: (OpenAI, 2024)

When providing the original output in an appendix, note this in your in-text citation.

Example: (OpenAI, 2024; See Appendix A for the full transcript). 

Narrative example: 

When prompted with "in a short paragraph, explain the environment cost of chatGPT," the ChatGPT-generated response stated that the environmental cost "primarily stems from the energy consumed by data centers during both the training and inference phases of the model" (OpenAI, 2024; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

How to Cite AI Generated Images

If you include an AI generated image in your assignment, provide a figure number and brief title above the image. Provide a caption below the image to indicate the image was created using an AI tool and the prompt used to generate the image. To include the image in your work provide a figure number and brief title above the image. Cite the tool you used in your reference list. 

Example for including an AI generated image within the body of your assignment:

Figure 1

Hieronymus Bosch style painting of a dog

A DALL-E generated image of a painting depicting a small white and brown dog inside an oval frame, with a long forked tongue sticking out.

Note: The image was generated using DALL-E (OpenAI, 2022) with the prompt "A Hieronymus Bosch painting of a sweet little dog.”

Reference List entry: 

OpenAI. (2022). DALL-E (Version 2) [Artificial intelligence system]. https://openai.com/product/dall-e-2