Treat an AI answer as a draft to verify, not an authority. Before relying on it, identify the claims that matter, check each against an appropriate source, look for missing conditions, and scale human review to the consequences of being wrong.
Why an answer can sound right and still be wrong
Generative AI can produce a fluent, confident explanation that contains errors, invented details, bias, or omissions. The U.S. Department of Energy warns that hallucinations can be difficult to spot in coherent, articulate responses. CDC guidance likewise recommends treating generative AI as a drafting and synthesis aid, not an authority.
That means tone is not evidence. A polished answer, a confident conclusion, or a list of citations does not establish that its claims are accurate.
A practical checklist for checking one answer
- Define what you need to know. Break the question into a few checkable subquestions. Note the relevant date, location or jurisdiction, and conditions that could change the answer. For recommendations, identify the criteria and assumptions behind them.
- Separate claims from commentary. Mark factual statements that could affect your decision, including figures, laws, quotations, current specifications, and recommendations. Check the decision-driving claims first; treat framing and examples separately.
- Verify citations against the claim. Open each cited source, rather than relying on the AI’s description of it. Confirm that the source exists, is authoritative for the subject, is current enough, and supports the specific statement attached to it. A real citation can still be irrelevant or fail to support the claim.
- Check completeness. Ask what a sound answer would have to cover. Look for missing dates, eligibility rules, exceptions, tradeoffs, uncertainty, or other conditions that change the conclusion. Correct statements do not guarantee a complete answer.
- Look for warning signs. Be cautious of unusually precise details without support, quotations or references you cannot locate, stale information, one-sided reasoning, and certainty where expertise or current evidence is needed.
- Match review to the stakes. Spot-check important details for low-consequence drafting. For decisions that could materially affect health, money, legal rights, safety, employment, or another person, verify every decision-driving claim using authoritative information and involve a qualified person where appropriate.
- Make the decision accountable. If a central claim remains unverified, do not treat it as established fact. Find a better source or ask an accountable expert. For work products, keep a record of important sources and the human decision; disclose AI use when the relevant policy or context requires it.
How to assess the sources an AI cites
Evaluate citations one claim at a time. The key question is not simply whether the linked page is reputable, but whether it supports the exact claim being made.
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- Existence: Does the cited document or page actually open, and is it the source named?
- Authority: Is the publisher in a position to establish this fact? For a law, for example, look for an official legal source; for a product specification, consult the manufacturer’s current documentation.
- Relevance: Does the source address the same subject, population, jurisdiction, and circumstances?
- Support: Does the relevant passage establish the statement, or is the AI drawing a stronger conclusion than the source allows?
- Currency: Is the information recent enough for the claim? Rules, policies, and technical details can change.
NIST’s report-evaluation framework treats mapping claims to source documents as part of making a report verifiable. CDC also advises confirming that citations are valid and appropriately sourced. A citation should therefore be checked for both credibility and claim-level support.
Accuracy and completeness are different tests
An answer can be accurate in what it says and still be unsafe to rely on because it leaves out something important. NIST’s framework evaluates accuracy and completeness separately, using required information—sometimes framed as question-and-answer “nuggets”—to test whether a response covers the information need.
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For your own check, write down the points a useful answer must address, then compare the response against that list. Depending on the question, required points might include a date, an exception, a qualifying condition, or a meaningful alternative. If an omission could change your choice, seek the missing information before acting.
How much verification is enough?
Review effort should rise with the potential cost of an error. CDC recommends defined oversight for higher-risk uses, and an Intelligence Community framework connects human involvement to potential consequences. These are organizational frameworks, not universal rules for every individual situation, but the underlying principle is practical: the greater the possible harm, the less appropriate it is to rely on an unchecked answer.
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- Low consequence: For a draft, brainstorming, or other reversible task, check the facts that matter and verify any important citations.
- Material consequence: For a decision affecting money, employment, or another person, verify the claims that drive the decision and consult relevant authoritative sources.
- High stakes: For health, legal rights, or safety, do not use generated text as a substitute for qualified expertise or validated methods. Verify decision-driving claims and seek appropriate professional review.
If you are comparing two AI answers
Judge both responses against the same criteria instead of choosing the one that reads better. NIST’s accuracy, completeness, and verifiability dimensions, together with CDC’s focus on oversight and uncertainty, offer a useful comparison:
| Criterion | What to check |
|---|---|
| Factual support | Are the important claims supported by reliable evidence? |
| Citation quality | Do sources directly support the claims, and are they relevant and current enough? |
| Completeness | Does the answer cover the necessary conditions, exceptions, and parts of the question? |
| Uncertainty and limits | Does it communicate what is not established, or claim more than the evidence supports? |
| Risk and accountability | Is human review appropriate to the possible consequences? |
If neither answer meets the criteria, do not treat the comparison as proof that one is reliable. Look for authoritative information or qualified review instead.
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When to document or disclose AI use
For consequential work, preserve the sources you checked and who made the final decision. In scientific work, CDC recommends recording the tool and model version, the purpose and scope of use, and the human oversight involved. That guidance is specific to scientific contexts; disclosure requirements vary by organization, publisher, funder, and partner, and can change. Check the rules that apply to your work rather than assuming one policy is universal.
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