ChatGPT, or Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, is an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered language model developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like text based on context and past conversations. ChatGPT enables users to refine and steer a conversation towards a desired length, format, style, level of detail, and language used, making it an emergent technology in academia, research, and various professional fields.
Students
Use ChatGPT to enhance, challenge, or support their work throughout their academic career. OpenAI’s knowledge base only includes information from up to 2021 and is not an accurate tool for exams. ChatGPT can help with other tasks though, such as writing. Note that the quality of AI generated outputs varies and may not be up to your teacher’s standards, so always review and revise before submitting. It is also important to consider your institution’s plagiarism guidelines and copyright laws when using ChatGPT, and to cite any text used in your own work.
Some functions of ChatGPT for students are:
- Summarizing lengthy articles that don’t have an abstract for you to view.
- Generating a topic to write about.
- Peer-review or editing practice (by editing AI generated sample).
- Replicating a back-and-forth discussion about an assigned reading.
- Revising your own writing for a class assignment.
- Summarizing the key points of an assignment/getting clarity from a syllabus that is confusing.
Citing AI
Each citation style has different expectations for how you will cite AI in text and in your reference list or bibliography, so please reference the resources linked below for more information on citing in APA and Chicago Manual. For MLA, you should cite AI anytime you quote, paraphrase, or incorporate it in your work, and acknowledge all functional uses of the tool by clearly stating what you used it for.
Quoting ChatGPT in MLA format
When describing the significance of imagery in Emily Dickinson’s poetry, ChatGPT had this to say: “The imagery in [Dickinson’s] poetry serves as a powerful tool for expressing her thoughts and feelings in a highly evocative manner” (“How important is the imagery”).
Works Cited List Entry
“How important is the imagery in Emily Dickinson’s poetry” prompt. ChatGPT 25 Oct. version, OpenAI, 17 Nov. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
Citation Resources
MLA How do I cite generative AI in MLA style? | MLA Style Center
- Citation Template: “state the prompt used for generating text” prompt. Version of AI tool, OpenAI, date content was generated, ChatGPT URL.
APA How to cite ChatGPT (apa.org)
- Citation Template: OpenAI. (year). ChatGPT (version) [Large language model]. ChatGPT URL
Chicago Manual How to cite ChatGPT (chicagomanualofstyle.org)
- Citation Template: Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, Date, ChatGPT URL