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APA Citation Guide (APA 7th Edition): Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence

Citing AI-generated Content in Assignments

Can I use generative AI in my assignment?
Always check with your instructor first! Before starting your assignment, confirm with your instructor that you are permitted to use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. Unauthorized use of generative software may constitute an academic integrity offence.

Do I need to cite content generated by artificial intelligence?
Remember to include a citation whenever you incorporate content generated by AI in your assignment. For example, if you paraphrased or quoted text generated by ChatGPT, cite the source in text and in your references list. Neglecting to cite this material may constitute an academic integrity offence. Since your reader can't access the exact AI-generated text, you may also consider including a copy of the text as an appendix, or as part of supplemental materials.     

What if I use AI to translate material, come up with ideas, or draft an outline for my assignment?
As part of using artificial intelligence responsibly and ethically, it is important to be transparent and acknowledge how you have used AI in your work. If you used AI tools at any point in creating your assignment, include a statement in your work indicating which AI tools you used and how you used them. Neglecting to include this statement may constitute an academic integrity offence. For more information on citing AI-generated translations, see the library's recommendations for Citing Translations.

Are there risks to using AI content as a source?
Be aware that there is a possibility that the content AI generates is biased, outdated, or false. Always evaluate the information generated by AI tools. Students are responsible for the accuracy, factuality, and truthfulness of artificial intelligence content used to assist with, and in, assessments. 

Text generated by an AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT)

 Note: AI-generated content may not be considered as an acceptable source for your course work. Be sure to evaluate the content carefully and check with your instructor if you are permitted to use it as a source. If you're using ChatGPT and other AI tools for coursework, include a description of how you used AI within your work. For example, you can describe in your introduction how you used ChatGPT to generate an outline for your presentation. When citing AI-generated text, remember to include both in-text and references list citations. For more information, see APA Style's How to cite ChatGPT.
 

References List Citation

Developer. (Version Year). Name of generative AI tool (Version number) [Type of AI Model]. URL of tool


Example

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 23 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com

In-Text Citation

(Quote or Paraphrase)

Remember to include the prompt you used whenever you quote or paraphrase text generated by an AI tool. Since your reader can't access the exact AI-generated text, you may also consider including a copy of the text as an appendix or as part of supplemental materials. If you are including a copy of the generated text, you may refer to it in the body of your text, or as part of the in-text citation such as in the example below. 


Example

Given the prompt "What are large language models?" the text generated by ChatGPT described them as "artificial intelligence systems that have been trained on vast amounts of text data, with the goal of understanding natural language and generating human-like responses to text-based inputs" (OpenAI, 2023).

When provided with a follow up prompt of "What are examples of large language models?" ChatGPT identified OpenAI's GPT-3, NVIDIA's Megatron, and Google's LaMDA as some of the examples of large language models (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

Translations generated by an AI tool

If you used an AI to translate a source, see the library's recommendations for Citing Translations.

Image generated by an AI tool (e.g., DALL-E, Midjourney)

 Note: AI-generated content may not be considered as an acceptable source for your course work. Be sure to evaluate the content carefully and check with your instructor if you are permitted to use it as a source. The following citation examples are Seneca Libraries' recommendations.
 

Reproducing the image in your work

If you are inserting the AI-generated image in your coursework, start with a figure number followed by an image title. Beneath the image, include a note with details about the prompt and the source (see example below). Remember to include the full citation in your References List.

 

Figure 3

Example of an AI-generated image

Generated image of two puppies playing by the sea in the style of Renoir

Note. Image generated using the prompt "Two puppies playing by the sea in the style of Renoir," by OpenAI, DALL-E, 2023 (https://labs.openai.com).

References List Citation

Developer's Name. (Version Year). Name of AI tool (Version number) [Type of AI model]URL of tool


Example

OpenAI. (2023). DALL-E (Version 2) [Large language model]. https://labs.openai.com

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