Lesson 1542 of 1570
Verifying AI Sources: The 60-Second Check
Why AI cites fake studies and how to catch it every time.
Lesson map
What this lesson covers
Learning path
The main moves in order
- 1The big idea
- 2hallucination
- 3citation
- 4primary source
Concept cluster
Terms to connect while reading
Section 1
The big idea
Every major AI model still invents citations that look completely real — fake DOIs, made-up authors, plausible journal names. Lawyers have been disbarred over this. Students get zeros. The fix is a 60-second habit: every citation gets clicked, or it doesn't go in your work.
Some examples
- Search the exact paper title in quotes — if Google Scholar shows nothing, it's likely fake.
- DOIs are easy to verify: doi.org/[the doi] should resolve to a real paper.
- Author names are hallucinated more often than titles — verify both.
- If AI gives a quote, find the original source and check the wording.
Try it!
Ask AI for five sources on any topic. Try to verify each. Note how many were real.
Key terms in this lesson
End-of-lesson quiz
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