Artificial Intelligence - Student Guide

Students should refer to their course outline or syllabus and talk to their instructor regarding expectations for AI attribution. Courses and instructors will differ in terms of what uses are permitted or not permitted, as well as how to acknowledge the use of AI tools and their output. Please review Acknowledging Generative AI Use.

Below are links to current style guide recommendations, templates, and examples for citing and attribution of generative AI in APA, MLA and Chicago. Please note that these guidelines may change.

Citing Generative AI in APA style

APA Style provides citation examples and advice for using and citing generative AI in this post: How to Cite Chat GPT (last updated Feb. 23, 2024). APA recommends treating the organization that developed the model as the author.

The following templates and examples use APA-style format as their basis.

In-Text Citation

Template

(Author/Creator of AI model, Year of version used)

Examples

• (OpenAI, 2024)
• (Black Technology LTD, 2024)

Reference List Entry

Template

Author/creator of AI model. (Year of model). Name of model (Version of model) [Type or description of model]. Retrieved month day, year, from https://xxxxx..

Examples

• OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT 3.5 [Large language model]. Retrieved February 26, 2024, from https://chat.openai.com
• Black Technology LTD. (2024). Stable Diffusion (Online version) [Image generator]. Retrieved February 28, 2024 from https://stablediffusionweb.com

Citing Generative AI in MLA 

An MLA Style Center post includes guidance for using and citing generative AI. MLA does not recommend treating AI tools as authors, so citations should skip the author element.

MLA suggests including the general link to the AI tool (e.g., chat.openai.com/chat). However, if you use a third-party linking tool like ShareGPT, MLA recommends using that link instead. How to cite Generative AI

In-Text Citation

• Include the "title of source" element, shortened based on MLA guidelines if needed. For generative AI, the title will usually be a description of what was generated by the AI model.

Example

• ("Describe the symbolism")
• ("Green light")

Works Cited List Entry

Template

• “Title of source" prompt. Name of AI Tool, version, Company, Date content was generated, URL to AI tool or archived content. 

Example

• “Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT 3.5, OpenAI, 26 Feb. 2024, chat.openai.com. 
• "Green light in The Great Gatsby in a futuristic style" prompt. Stable Diffusion, online version, Black Technology LTD, 28 Feb. 2024, https://stablediffusionweb.com.

Citing Generative AI in Chicago 

Chicago recommends only citing AI in a note (for the notes-bibliography system) or a parenthetical citation (for the author-date system) and not in a bibliography or reference list, unless you provide a publicly available URL (e.g., through a browser extension like ShareGPT or A.I. Archives). This style treats the AI model as an author. Chicago Q&A

Footnote or Endnote (Notes-Bibliography System)

Template

• Note number. Author, description of prompt, publisher, date the text was generated.
• (Omit the prompt if it has been described in your text.)

Example

• 1. ChatGPT, response to “Explain how to make pizza dough from common household ingredients,” OpenAI, February 26, 2024.
• 2. Stable Diffusion, image generated in response to "Pepperoni pizza" in a surrealist style, Black Technology LTD, February 28, 2024.

In-Text Citation (Author-Date System)

• A parenthetical in-text citation should include any information not described in your text.

Example

• (ChatGPT 3.5, February 26, 2024)
• (Stable Diffusion, February 28, 2024)

Sometimes, you might use generative AI in the process of an assignment, but won't directly quote or paraphrase the AI output within the assignment. Clarify with your instructor if they would like you to acknowledge the use of AI technologies even when the information is not included in the assignment. When using Gen AI transparency is always recommended (see: Principles for Ethical Use of Generative AI at MacEwan University).

Example 

I acknowledge the use of ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com/) to help brainstorm keywords for my essay on the effects of play-centered therapy for children with autism. I entered the following prompts on April 28, 2023:

• What are related terms for play-centered therapy?
• What are related terms for autism?

The output was used to find academic sources in the MacEwan Library database. A copy of the original output is attached in Appendix A of my assignment.

Using Generative AI by University of Alberta Library is licensed under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 licence. Artificial Intelligence (AI): Citing AI by JIBC Library is licensed under a CC-BY-SA 4.0 licence.