How do I cite ChatGPT & Other AI Tools in MLA Style?
Answer
As AI changes and develops, the answer to this may change or become outdated.
This is MLA’s guidance as of March 17, 2023:
- Start with the prompt, yes the full prompt, as the source title followed by the word prompt
- ChatGPT or other generative AI should not be treated as the author according to MLA
- Instead, place it after the prompt and include the version number or name
- Then the name of the company that produced the tool as the publisher
- Follow this with the date the item was produced
- Finish with a link to the tool’s main website. As of now there is no way to create a specific link to AI generated materials.
“Prompt Text” prompt. AI Tool Name, Version Number/Name, Company Name, Date of Creation (formatted Day, Mon. Year), URL.
“Describe a rose in 2 paragraphs” prompt. ChatGPT, 25 Sept. version, OpenAI, 26 Sept. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
If you have a long prompt or multiple prompts, speak with your professor about abbreviating it or placing the full text of the prompts in an appendix.
In-text, shorten the prompt to the first 2-3 words.
(“Describe a rose”).
For more information, see MLA’s full announcement.
The above guidance does not apply to Google's AI answer. MLA considers this a search result not an AI tool. You should instead seek out the sources that Google AI used to craft the answer and cite them instead. For more information, view this MLA blog post.
If you need further help, contact a librarian.