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Lesson 2 of 8 · 6 min
When It Makes Things Up
Wrong answers arrive looking exactly like right ones.
Big idea: If a detail matters, check it outside the chat before you repeat it as fact.
Card 1 of 4
There's a word for it
When an AI states something false as though it were solid fact, that is called a hallucination. It isn't lying — lying needs an intention to deceive. It is producing text shaped exactly like a correct answer, with the facts filled in by what seemed to fit. Real lawyers have been fined for handing in AI-invented court cases. It happens to grown-up professionals, so assume it can happen to you.