v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 714 entries across 20 domains · CC-BY 4.0714 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Dictionary termTrack AStablev2026.2

AI as author

The disallowed practice of listing a generative AI system (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude) in the author byline or contributor list of a scholarly work, on the rationale that AI cannot meet authorship criteria requiring accountability, agreement, and the capacity to take public responsibility.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
A 2023 preprint that listed ChatGPT as a co-author and was subsequently corrected to remove it

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
Disclosing in the methods that ChatGPT was used to draft the abstract while keeping the human authors solely in the byline

Editorial commentary

ICMJE, COPE, WAME and most major publishers have converged on rejecting AI as an author because authorship requires the ability to be held accountable for the integrity of the work, to consent to publication, and to declare conflicts of interest — none of which an AI system can do. AI contributions must instead be disclosed in methods, acknowledgements, or a dedicated AI-use statement.

References

ICMJE Recommendations (2023 update)
COPE Position Statement on Authorship and AI Tools (2023)
Nature Editorial Policy on Generative AI (2023)

Also known as

AI authorship · Chatbot author

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="AI as author"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/ai-as-author" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "AI as author",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/ai-as-author",
  "description": "The disallowed practice of listing a generative AI system (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude) in the author byline or contributor list of a scholarly work, on the rationale that AI cannot meet authorship criteria requiring accountability, agreement, and the capacity to take public responsibility.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/generative-ai-use-and-disclosure/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/ai-as-author",
  "sameAs": [
    "AI authorship",
    "Chatbot author"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

Adopted by research universities worldwide

View CASRAI adoption →