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MLA 9th Edition Style Guide: Generative AI

This guide will assist you in formatting in-text citations and a Works Cited list in the current MLA style.

Generative AI

Author - MLA does not recommend treating the AI tool as an author.

Title - prompt or brief description of prompt, followed by the word prompt

AI tool - name of AI tool used to receive output or answer

Version - model or version number of AI tool

Publisher - name of creator of AI tool

Date - when the content/output was generated (day month year)

Location - shareable URL or generated URL of the GenAI tool. If not available, then use general URL of the GenAI tool

 

Paraphrase

In Mansfield Park, physical locations like Mansfield Park and Sotherton reflect the morality and choices of the people who live in them (“Describe the theme”).

Works cited

“Describe the theme of nature in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park” prompt. ChatGPT, model GPT-4o, OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024,

         chatgpt.com/share/66f1b0a0-d704-8000-be9a-85f53c850607.

Quote

Nature is depicted frequently throughout Mansfield Park, and it “often mirrors the personalities or inner states of the characters” (“Describe the theme”).

Work cited

“Describe the theme of nature in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park” prompt. ChatGPT, model GPT-4o,

OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024, chatgpt.com/share/66f1b0a0-d704-8000-be9a-85f53c850607.

Create a caption underneath the image generated by the GenAI tool. Include Figure number,  description of the prompt, AI tool name, model name or version, and date created.

Work cited

“Create an expressionist-style image of two people standing on a beach looking at the ocean” prompt, DALL-E, version 3,                       OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024, chatgpt.com/share/66f1c3a3-3f90-8000-9750-82c57c4a6592.

Work cited

“The Oak Tree” free verse poem. ChatGPT, model GPT-4o, OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024, chatgpt.com/share/66f1c740-7500-8000-                    a38b-6d6045c811f5.

MLA recommends citing the original or primary source:

  • GenAI tools do not always cite sources or, when they do, do not always indicate precisely what a given source has contributed.
  • GenAI tools can also hallucinate, or make up, sources or incorrectly summarize the content that it does reference.

1. You should click through to the cited sources and use those directly as the source that you cite.

2. Google’s AI Overviews feature is a form of search results; therefore, it is not considered a work.

3. If you cite from Google's  AI Overviews feature, you should click through to the source and cite it instead. 

4. If you cite a GenAI summary that includes sources and do not consult those sources yourself, it is recommended to acknowledge secondary sources in your work.

Note: See previous tabs in this LibGuide section for specific examples.