Citing AI- Generated Content: MLA AI Citation

Modern Language Association states citation for AI generated tools needs to take place if doing the following: 

• paraphrasing, direct quoting or incorporating AI into your own work content, this includes any text, images, data etc. that was created by AI
• using any functional tools of AI, like to edit prose or translate words etc. (this can be cited in a note or be mentioned directly in your text). 

MLA citations adhere to a standardized formula, though not all fields are required for citing AI. Below is a concise list of core elements in MLA citations, along with explanations of their relevance to AI:

• Author: blank for AI
• Title of source: the prompt you used to generate the text or a description if the prompt itself is too long
• Title of container: the name of the AI tool, such as ChatGPT
• Version: the tool’s version (some tools list their version as a date)
• Publisher: the company that created the AI
• Date: the date you accessed the AI, in day-month-year format
• Location: the URL of the tool

Works-Cited List Entry Example:

“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

MLA In-Text Citations

MLA uses in-text parenthetical citations and should be placed after the related sentence, clause or paragraph that contains the information being cited. Since AI tools have no author name, use the description of the prompt in the "title of source" section as your in-text citation and set in quotes with no other punctuation.  

Chatbot prompt descriptions can be long, MLA recommends shortening the prompt to the first phrase for in-text citations.  

         Example: original prompt is "Describe the religious themes of Lord of the Rings" 

         In-text parenthetical citation: ("Describe the religious themes") 

         Body of text: Sacrifice, redemption, and the feud between good and evil are all present in J. R. R Tolkien’s series (“Describe the religious themes”), but some are more prevalent than others.

         Full Works-Cited List Entry: 

         "Describe the religious themes of Lord of the Rings" prompt. ChatGPT,13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

Quoting AI Example: 

When asked to describe the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby, ChatGPT provided a summary about optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness. However, when further prompted to cite the source on which that summary was based, it noted that it lacked “the ability to conduct research or cite sources independently” but that it could “provide a list of scholarly sources related to the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby” (“In 200 words”)

Works-Cited-List Entry:

“In 200 words, describe the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby” follow-up prompt to list sources. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 9 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

When including an AI-generated image in your work, it's advisable to craft a caption for it according to the directives outlined in section 1.7 of the MLA Handbook. This caption should feature a description of the prompt, followed by details of the AI tool, its version, and the date of creation.

Example: 

Fig. 1. “Pointillist painting of a sheep in a sunny field of blue flowers” prompt, DALL-E, version 2, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, labs.openai.com/.

Citing a generative AI's creation, such as a poem, hinges on whether you provide it with a title. For instance, if you request ChatGPT to compose a villanelle titled "The Sunflower," describing a sunflower, and subsequently quote it, your entry in the works-cited-list could resemble:

"The Sunflower" - a villanelle describing a sunflower. ChatGPT, version dated 13 Feb., developed by OpenAI, accessed on 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

If you haven't provided a title for the work, include part or all of its first line in the description within the "Title of Source" element:

"Upon the shore . . ." - A Shakespearean sonnet capturing the experience of witnessing the ocean. Created by ChatGPT, version dated 13 Feb., developed by OpenAI, accessed on 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

MLA recommends that if you use AI for research, cite the sources AI used rather than the AI itself. 

*All secondary sources cited by an AI tool should be vetted carefully by user before citing it as evidence.

ChatGPT lacks a built-in function for generating a unique conversation URL. Yet, external tools like the Chrome extension ShareGPT can provide this capability. If utilizing such external tools, incorporate the specific URL they generate rather than the standard one.

Ellis, Matt. “How to Cite Chatgpt and AI in MLA Format.” How to Cite ChatGPT and AI in MLA Format | Grammarly Blog, Grammarly Blog, 12 July 2023, www.grammarly.com/blog/ai-citations-mla/.

"How do I Cite Generative AI in MLA Style?” Citing Generative AL, MLA Style Center, Modern Language Association , 12 Apr. 2023, style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/.

MLA Handbook. 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021. MLA Handbook Plus, 2021, mlahandbookplus.org/.