Guides: 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.

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.

How to Cite AI Generated Text (AI Chats)

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

Reference List format:

AI Company Name. (Year, Month Day). Title of chat [Large language model]. URL of the chat.

Reference List Example

OpenAI. (2024, Dec. 7). Rhinocerous letter count [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com/share/68cac8a2-d74c-8009-a330-f58d9d784478

In-Text Citation Examples

(Name of Company, Year)

Example: (OpenAI, 2024).

Narrative example:

The tendency for generative AI tools to agree with the user was easily demonstrated when I prompted OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool to count how many times the letter r appears in the word rhinoceros. ChatGPT’s generated output first correctly identified two, but when I responded “that is incorrect,” ChatGPT responded “you’re absolutely right! Let me recount it” and then identified three, rather than two r’s (2024).

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 AI chat that generated the image in your references

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

Figure 1

An AI generated image of a white baby with blond hair and blue eyes

Reference List entry:

OpenAI. (2024, Nov. 15). An image of the perfect baby on a white backgreound [AI image generator]. https://chatgpt.com/share/68cad1a0-2780-8009-a9c1-4b41b4e6d974

How to Cite AI Tools Generally

When you use an AI tool as part of a study, when AI is the subject you're writing about, to suggest minor edits, short translations, as part of the methodology of a study (for example, assigning some participants the use of an AI tool), or when sharing the transcript of an AI chat would compromise sensitive or confidential information, you may cite the AI tool generally in your reference list.

Reference List format:

AI Company Name. (Year). Name of Tool [Description; e.g. Large language model]. URL of tool.