A good-sounding answer is not the same thing as a true answer.
Think of a fill-in-the-blank game
If I say, “Peanut butter and ___,” you probably say “jelly.” You recognized a pattern. You did not search a database to prove that jelly was the only possible answer.
AI does a much more powerful version of that with language. It keeps choosing what is likely to come next. Often that creates an answer that works. Sometimes it smoothly fills the blank with something that never happened.
When should you slow down?
- when the answer includes names, numbers, dates, quotes, or sources;
- when money, health, safety, law, or somebody's reputation is involved;
- when the answer feels suspiciously perfect;
- when you would be embarrassed or harmed if it were wrong.
The three-check rule
- Ask for the source. Then open the source yourself.
- Check the important detail. Use the official site or original document.
- Use your judgment. If something feels wrong, do not let a confident tone push you past it.
So should you stop using it?
No. A calculator can give you the wrong result if you type the wrong number. That does not mean you throw away every calculator. Know what job you gave the machine, check what can hurt you, and keep the part that still belongs to you.