Harvard Referencing - Generative AI

When quoting, paraphrasing or summarising an AI tool’s output, you must include the company name, followed by the date the response was given.

Quoting

User Question: Can you explain the concept of zombies in anthropological terms?

ChatGPT Response: Zombies in anthropological terms are often seen as a manifestation of cultural anxieties about the unknown and the boundary between life and death.

Example Citation: ChatGPT highlights that in anthropological discourse, "zombies [...] are often seen as a manifestation of cultural anxieties about the unknown and the boundary between life and death" (OpenAI 2023).

Paraphrasing

User Question: What role do zombies play in cultural studies?

ChatGPT Response: Zombies serve as a metaphor in cultural studies for societal issues, reflecting deep-seated fears and contemporary anxieties.

Example Citation: ChatGPT indicates that in cultural studies, zombies are metaphorically used to represent societal issues and contemporary fears (OpenAI 2023).

Summarising

User Question: Can you provide an overview of the various theories surrounding what zombies symbolise?

ChatGPT Response: In cultural theory, zombies are significant as they symbolise various aspects of human nature and societal concerns, often serving as a critique of consumerism, conformity, and the loss of individuality.

Example Citation: A synthesis of discussions on ChatGPT about cultural theories suggests that zombies are portrayed as reflections of human characteristics and societal issues, frequently used to comment on consumer culture and the diminishing sense of personal identity (OpenAI 2023).

Reference list

Format for a Harvard citation for AI:

Company. Year, Product Name in italics, [Type of AI model], Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL.

Example of a Harvard citation for AI:
OpenAI. 2023 ChatGPT [Large language model]. Retrieved October 19, 2023, from https://chat.openai.com/chat

Here you can find Harvard referencing style for generative images.

It is important to include appropriate acknowledgement of images used in your assessments whether that be in a report, visual essay, PowerPoint presentation, video or other form of work. Images you create yourself (without the use of AI) generally do not need a reference. Images you create with generative AI should generally have a caption citation and may also be included in a reference list/bibliography. Check with your course convenor or assessment brief for specific requirements in your assessments.

This guide also covers non-AI generated images to illustrate the differences. Recommendations for how to reference AI-generated content may change in the future as referencing style manuals are updated.

In-text citation

In your written work, such as a report or essay, you can cite an image with its figure number. It’s best to avoid using the caption title in your main text or making references like ‘the photograph on the left’. Place the image close to its reference in the text, ideally on the same page and right after the relevant paragraph. (Drawn from the Australian Government Style Manual.)

Example 1
Figure 6 shows an example of….

Example 2
European Union expenditure more than quadrupled from 2016 to 2018 (Figure 7).

Caption (non-AI generated or AI generated that is not your own)

The caption always appears under the image. See more on using UNSW Harvard for citing images and tables found-online here. 
 
Rule
Figure number: Caption (Artist Year), Creative Commons Attribution/Copyright. 

• If the work is from social media, the artist name is the username. 
• If the artist’s name is unknown, use website name where image is located. 
• Use n.d. when no date is available.

Example
 
Figure 1: Rose Seidler House (newformula 2008), CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.  

Caption (your own generative AI image)

Many referencing styles (including what is used for UNSW Harvard) do not have clear guidelines for acknowledging Gen AI images you create. Our recommendation below is based on MLA 9, which is similar to Harvard. It includes the prompt or question used to generate the image as well as the Gen AI tool employed. 
 
Rule
Figure number: Caption (“text of prompt” prompt, Gen AI Product Name, Version, Date created, URL) 
 
Example
 
Figure 1: Magical House (“house in magical world” prompt, Adobe Firefly, Image 3, 28 April 2024, https://firefly.adobe.com)