Make It Answer Accurately
Ask it where the information came from, then open the link. About ten seconds, and it catches most of what goes wrong.
The short answer
There is one habit that makes AI noticeably more accurate, and it takes about ten seconds. Ask it where the information came from, then open the link.
Why not just ask if it is sure
Are you sure is the question almost everybody reaches for, and it tests the wrong thing entirely. It tells you whether the model will fold when you push back.
Folding has nothing to do with being right. Push a correct answer and some models will apologise and replace it with something worse. Push a wrong one and some will dig in and repeat it more firmly. Either way you have learned something about its manners and nothing about the facts.
Ask for the source instead
Say it plainly. Where did this come from, and give me a link I can click.
This works because it asks for something that either exists or does not. A claim can be wrong in a way that still sounds right. A link either loads or it does not.
Then actually open it
This is the step people skip, and it is the one that does the work.
Three things can happen. The link does not load at all, which is your answer. The link loads something about a different subject, which is also your answer. Or the link loads a real page that does not contain the claim attached to it, which is the most common of the three and the easiest to miss, because the page opened and the title looked about right.
When to bother
Not on everything. Checking everything costs more time than the tool saves, and you would stop using it inside a week. Four kinds of answer are worth it: anything with a number in it, anything it says somebody else said, anything about the last few months, and anything you are about to put your name on.
Check yourself
What does asking are you sure actually test?
Whether the model will fold under pressure. That is a fact about its manners, not about whether the answer was right.
Why is asking for a source better?
Because a link either loads or it does not. It turns a question about truth into a question with a checkable answer.
What is the most common way the link step fails?
A real page that loads perfectly and does not contain the claim attached to it.
Why do people miss that one?
Because the page opened and the title looked about right, so they stop reading there.
Which answers are worth checking?
Anything with a number, anything it says somebody else said, anything about the last few months, and anything you are about to put your name on.
Words used here
What she says
There is one habit that makes AI far more accurate, and it costs you ten seconds. Ask it where the information came from. Not, are you sure. That only tells you whether it folds when you push back.
Folding has nothing to do with being right. Ask for the source. Ask for a link. Then open it. A link that will not load is your answer. Most wrong answers get caught right there, before they cost you anything.
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