AI and Telling the Truth

AI guesses words that sound good together. Sometimes the guess is right, but sometimes AI invents facts that are totally wrong. Grown-ups call this 'hallucinating.' That means you have to check important answers in a book, on a real website, or by asking an adult.

Some examples

• AI says a dinosaur lived in your backyard — that's not true.
• AI gives a fake author for a real book.
• AI makes up a math rule that doesn't exist.
• AI tells a confident answer to a question it doesn't know.

Try it!

Ask an AI a fact about your favorite animal. Then look it up in a book or on a kids' science site. Did AI get it right?

Practice this safely

Try this with a low-stakes example and a trusted adult nearby. The goal is to notice how AI talks about truth, not to let it make the decision for you.

1. 1Ask AI to explain truth in plain language, then underline anything that sounds uncertain or too broad.
2. 2Give it one detail from "AI and Telling the Truth" and ask for two possible next steps plus one reason each step might be wrong.
3. 3Check made-up against a trusted source, teacher, adult, expert, or original document before you use it.