Hallucinations
What it is
The model is the part of an AI app that writes replies. It writes the words most likely to come next, and it does not check a fact against a source.
A detail is one fact, such as a name, date, number or quote. A hallucination is a wrong detail, such as a wrong notice period for ending a lease. The model states a wrong detail in the same tone as a right one, and tone is how sure it sounds. A sure tone shows how a reply was written, not its truth. The app may fetch web pages, but the model can still misread or mix up a detail.
The way models are built and tested rewards a guess over "I don't know", so a model tends to guess rather than leave a gap. Look the detail up outside the chat: anywhere but your chat with the app.
Tips
- Look up a name, number, date or quote from your AI app outside the chat before you use it, because wrong details sound as sure as right ones.
- Tell your AI app it is allowed to say "I don't know", because without that permission the model tends to fill a gap with a sure-sounding guess.
- When in doubt, look a detail up outside the chat instead of asking "Are you sure?", because the answer sounds sure either way and may change only because you pushed.
Try it
- Pick one real job this week that rests on a name, number, date or quote, such as how much notice a tenant gives, when a club's fees fall due, or who said a line for a speech.
- Ask your AI app for help with the job. Note the one detail the job depends on, and how sure the reply sounds.
- Look that detail up outside the chat, such as on an official page, in your contract or on a club's own site. Note where you found it, so you can show where it came from.
- Tell the chat what you found, and ask it to redo the reply with the right detail.
- Use the right detail in your job, and keep a note of where you found it.
If no job this week rests on a detail, ask about something you can already look up, such as the year a local club began, and use that year as the detail to look up and keep.
What to expect:
- The tone reads the same whether the detail is right or wrong, so only the look-up tells you.
- If you sent "Are you sure?" before step 3, you may get a yes or a changed answer in the same tone, and neither checks anything.
- If the detail matches, the look-up was still worth doing, because it is the habit this page teaches.
- If the app says it cannot be sure, that is better than a sure guess, and the detail is still worth looking up.
Risks
- The model can fill a gap with a name, number or quote that looks right, even when the app looked at web pages first. Look the exact detail up outside the chat, and if you cannot find it, do not use it.
- Asking "Are you sure?" can get a yes in the same tone, or an answer the model changed only because you pushed, and neither is a check. Look the detail up outside the chat, then take what you found back to the chat.
- A sure tone does not show an answer is right. A flag is a line in a reply that says the answer may be wrong. A flag is a reason to look the detail up outside the chat, not proof the reply is right.
Why it matters
A sure tone is not proof. Looking up the one detail a job depends on, outside the chat, tells you whether to use it and lets you show where it came from.