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Treat AI advice as an unverified draft, not a decision. Pull out its factual claims, check important ones against original or authoritative sources, confirm dates and context, and ask a qualified professional or responsible authority when a mistake could have serious consequences. A confident answer—or a list of citations—does not prove that it is correct.
How do I fact-check an AI answer?
Verify the answer claim by claim. AI responses can combine correct details with errors, omissions, or misleading context, so checking only the overall impression is not enough. The House of Commons Library recommends identifying individual facts or claims and checking them against independent sources (Working with AI and spotting AI-generated text).
- Break the response into checkable claims. Separate dates, figures, quotations, rules, named studies, instructions, and cause-and-effect statements. Prioritize claims that would change what you do.
- Open every citation. Check that the source exists, is what the AI says it is, and supports the exact claim. Read the relevant passage rather than relying on a search-result snippet or the chatbot’s description. Generated references may be fabricated or misrepresented.
- Trace the claim to its original evidence. For a rule, look for the regulation or agency that administers it; for a study, find the paper; for a product feature, consult its official documentation. Summaries can be useful starting points, but they may omit definitions or context. The House of Commons Library’s guidance on checking facts explains why following claims back to original sources matters.
- Evaluate the source and compare independent evidence. Consider who produced it, their expertise and purpose, how clearly they show their evidence, and whether it addresses your exact question. If the answer remains uncertain, look for corroboration from a genuinely independent source—not another chatbot repeating the same claim. See the Library’s guide to evaluating sources.
- Check time, place, and conditions. Confirm when a source was published or updated, which jurisdiction it covers, and whether eligibility rules or other conditions apply. For a fast-changing requirement, check the agency, regulator, professional body, or service responsible for the current rule.
- Keep unresolved claims marked as unverified. If you cannot confirm a claim, do not treat it as established. Seek appropriate help or withhold action until you can check it.
When should you get expert or official advice?
Escalate the question when an error could affect health, legal rights, finances, safety, or access to services. Ask a qualified professional or the responsible official authority to assess your situation; a chatbot cannot reliably account for every relevant detail or replace professional judgment.
The World Health Organization warned in 2023 that large language models can produce health responses that sound authoritative and plausible but are completely incorrect or contain serious errors (WHO calls for safe and ethical AI for health). The warning addresses health-related uses and is not proof that every use of AI is unsafe. For health information, WHO also advises checking the author, the sources behind claims, the reliability of the outlet, and the latest official, evidence-based information (Disinformation and public health).
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Which sources are best for checking AI advice?
Choose the source that is authoritative for the particular claim, not simply the one that sounds most polished. NIST’s 2024 Generative AI Profile recommends using and documenting fact-checking techniques to verify information generated by AI, especially when it comes from multiple or unknown sources (NIST AI 600-1). For each source, ask:
- Authority: Does the author or organization have relevant expertise or responsibility?
- Proximity: Is this the original evidence or an account of someone else’s evidence?
- Currency and jurisdiction: Is it recent enough, and does it apply where you are?
- Relevance: Does it answer the precise question and fit your circumstances?
- Transparency: Does it explain its evidence, methods, uncertainty, or conflicts of interest?
- Independent corroboration: Does another credible source reach the same conclusion independently?
Government of Canada guidance likewise says not to treat generative AI output as authoritative and recommends checking it against trusted sources or an expert (Guide on the use of generative artificial intelligence).
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What a citation or confident tone does—and does not—tell you
A citation is a lead to investigate, not a guarantee. It may be irrelevant, outdated, misquoted, or unable to support the sentence attached to it. Likewise, fluency and confidence are features of how an answer is written, not evidence that its facts are sound. NIST’s guidance treats verification as a risk-management practice; it does not establish a single error rate for AI advice in general.
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