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Ages 10+ · Digital Life · Searching and ads
When an AI gets it wrong
🤖chatbot📕a book you cannot find🔁a new answer📚second source🧑grown-up
Sounding sure is not the same as right.
The big ideaA chatbot can sound sure and be mistaken. Check facts in a second source.

How it works

A chatbot writes words that sound right, and it is good at sounding sure. It picks words that fit, using patterns from lots of writing.

When it does not know, it may still fill the gap with good-sounding words. It is not lying on purpose, it just does not always know what is true.

It can make up facts, make up sources such as a book or an expert, and give a different answer each time.

So check a fact in a second source, a place your family trusts. When two good places agree, you can feel more sure.

Spot thefactFind asecondsourceCompare theanswersAsk agrown-up ifthey differWrite it inmy ownwords
How to check a fact.
Check it• A date for your report• An exact number• A book the chatbot names• A quote from a named expertJust enjoy it• A joke about snails• Name ideas for a pet• An idea for a story• A short poem
Check it, or just enjoy it.

Example 1: Pebble the purple tortoise

  1. The chatbot said: Pebble is a purple tortoise from Mars, who sings opera.
  2. It had never met Pebble, so it made it up.
  3. It sounded just as sure as it did about the book.

Example 2: The book nobody could find

  1. The chatbot named a book, The Tortoise Almanac.
  2. Ife and Mom searched for it and found nothing at all.
  3. A chatbot can invent a book, or even a person. A source you cannot find is a sign to check.

Example 3: Two numbers

  1. Ife asked how long tortoises live, and asked the very same question again.
  2. She got a different number each time, and they cannot both be right.
  3. She checked two places her family trusts. Both gave the same number, and it was not the chatbot's.
Ask twiceTwo placesSame numberOwn words
Ife's check.

Words to know

chatbot
A program that writes words that sound right.
made-up source
A book, quote or expert that is not real.
second source
A place your family trusts, to check a fact against.
fact
Something that is true, like a date or a number.

Watch out

Try it

  1. Does a chatbot that sounds sure have to be right?
  2. The chatbot names a book you cannot find. What may be true?
  3. You ask the same question twice and get two answers. What do you do?
  4. Which check is surest?
  5. A chatbot asks for your name and address. What do you do?
Answers: 1. No · 2. The book may be made up · 3. Check it · 4. Two good places that agree · 5. Keep them out, and tell a grown-up
Try at homeAsk a grown-up to show you two places your family trusts for facts. Check one thing together.
For grown-upsPick two places your family trusts for facts and check one thing together, then write the source down as Ife did.
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