Q. Do I have to cite generative AI - like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini - in my college papers, projects, assignments or discussion boards?

Whether to use AI and when to cite it depends on what it is for. You need to follow the AI policies and guidelines of the school or workplace you are writing for. So always ask your instructors about using AI, what is allowed, and when they want you to cite it.

They may not need you to cite it if you plug something you wrote into ChatGPT, and you only ask it to make your language sound more professional, or to help with organizing your ideas, or to help improve your grammar. But a professor in an English or Writing class may not allow this use.

However, if you use it for research, or copy AI-written text, they will definitely want proper APA or MLA citations, and may want more information about the prompt you asked the chatbot. Here are parts of the Berkeley Guidelines and Policies about AI in the classroom:

Berkeley College AI Principles say this about Academic Use of AI:

• "Promote the responsible use of AI as a tool for idea generation, research assistance, and workplace innovation, within the parameters of Berkeley College’s Academic Integrity Policy" (https://berkeleycollege.edu/artificial-intelligence/index.html). 

Berkeley College’s Academic Integrity Policy says this about the Use of AI: (highlights added)

• Plagiarism refers to representing someone else’s work or ideas as one’s own and occurs when appropriate credit is not given to the original source. Note that plagiarism can be intentional, as well as unintentional.  
  Original sources refer to published material; both printed and electronically accessed online (or through utilization of AI). Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Copying another’s assignments and presenting them as one’s own. 
• Copying any passages from another source in print, online, or AI program. 
• Submitting work that was written or prepared, in whole or in part, by another person or technology (e.g., AI). 
• Acts of deception include intentionally or unintentionally submitting work completed by another person or AI program as their own. (https://berkeleycollege.edu/pdf/academic-integrity-policy.pdf, pg. 2)