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Check an AI answer
A wrong answer sounds exactly like a right one. Here is where to look, and a check that takes about five minutes.
Look twice at
- A precise number with no source.
- A quote, and who it is credited to.
- A reference, a study or a web address.
- A date, or anything that happened recently.
- “The first” or “the only”.
- “Studies show” or “experts agree”, with no source named.
- An answer that agrees with whatever you suggested.
The five-minute check
- Pick the details that matter: only what you will repeat or act on.
- Look each one up at a source that would know, such as the organization’s own page or the study itself.
- Ask the AI for its source, then open it and find the sentence. A link that does not say it is not a source.
- Ask again in a new chat and compare. A detail that changes between answers needs checking.
If you cannot confirm a fact in a couple of minutes, treat it as unconfirmed and leave it out.
A prompt for an AI that searches the web
Check each claim below against reliable sources. For each, answer Verified, Wrong or Could not verify, and give the source as a link. For anything wrong, give the correct fact with its source. Do not guess. [paste the claims, one per line]
When to stop checking and ask a person
For anything about your health, your money, your legal position or someone’s safety, an AI answer is preparation, not a decision. Take your questions to a person who is accountable for the answer: a doctor, a pharmacist, a lawyer or the office handling your case.
Tools that do the tedious part
- Fact Check List pulls every figure and source out of an answer, riskiest first: thinkhard.si/fact-check/
- Summary Check holds a summary against the original text: thinkhard.si/summary-check/