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Artificial Intelligence: Student Guide to Generative AI

Citing AI-Generated Content

Before you start

Students, please first confirm with your professor that using ChatGPT or other content produced by generative artificial intelligence (AI) is acceptable before citing it. Your professor may also have a specific way they would like you to reference ChatGPT.

Why should I reference ChatGPT or other AI Generated content?

References tell your reader where your information came from and how you used it in your work. If you use content created by a tool like ChatGPT, including it in your works cited - as you would with any other source - is the responsible thing to do. If you use ChatGPT to help write or structure your paper, even if you do not otherwise quote or paraphrase its content, you will likely wish to acknowledge your use of it in some manner. This provides transparency to your reader.

Are there official guidelines for citing ChatGPT or other AI Generated content?

Generative AI is a relatively new phenomenon. As such, citation styles may lack specific guidelines for referencing AI-generated content. It is likely that guidelines will be updated, so checking for the most recent recommendations is advisable.

How to Cite Generative AI

 

Remember to check with your instructor. Some instructors might not allow any use of ChatGPT and others might allow only limited use.

If you are allowed to use ChatGPT in an academic assignment, here are some guidelines for citing.

Your instructor may also ask for an appendix that includes the prompts that you provided to ChatGPT or the full transcript of your interaction.

For guidelines on citing other formats of generative AI (images, videos, etc), see How to Cite AI Tools: A Guide for Students.

See also this summary of ways to acknowledge use of generative AI: Acknowledging and Citing Generative AI in Academic Work.

It's also worth reading this advice, since some uses don't fit the standard way of citing: 

Citing AI Produced Content Responsibly

 

We are still learning how to ethically use and cite generative AI resources. As such, err on the side of transparency if you use one. Here are some ideas for citing generative AI responsibly:

  • Save a transcript of your chat. Make it available to or retrievable by your reader, possibly by including it as an appendix to your work or as an online supplement.
  • Describe the prompt that generated the specific ChatGPT, Bard, or Claude response.
  • Include the date when the response was generated or date of access. This is important as these tools will update regularly.
  • Acknowledge how you used the tool. You can do this even if you only use generative AI to plan your paper or generate ideas and don't include any of its generated content.