How do I cite information generated through an AI tool such as ChatGPT in APA style?

Answer

If the text generated by the AI is saved, shareable or retrievable, use the reference format in Section 10.10 Software with the company as author, not the AI program. If the chat has no title, a description in square brackets (that ideally includes information on what prompts were used) would be created. That would give us the following if the company is OpenAI and the AI program is ChatGPT:   

OpenAI. (2023, January 17). [ChatGPT response to a prompt about three prominent themes in Emily Dickinson’s poetry]. https://chat.openai.com/....

If the text that the AI program generates is not retrievable or sharable, then it falls into APA's catch-all “personal communication” category, where you cite with an in-text only citation. Example: “(OpenAI, personal communication, January 16, 2023).”

Consider making the AI software conversation retrievable by including the text as an appendix or as online supplemental material. Refer readers to the appendix or the online supplemental material (where the AI software response may be contextualized) when the conversation is cited in your text. It would be good practice to describe, in the narrative or a note, the prompt that generated the specific AI software response. 

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  • Last Updated Jul 07, 2023
  • Views 173
  • Answered By Christine Seliga

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