Why AI Hallucinates
A fluent answer can still contain invented facts because generation optimizes for a plausible continuation, not guaranteed truth.
A fluent answer can still contain invented facts because generation optimizes for a plausible continuation, not guaranteed truth.
The answer can sound right.
Truth needs supporting sources or data.
The model may not reliably know when it lacks evidence.
Understand the working model
Hallucination risk rises when you ask for obscure facts, exact citations, current information or details that are absent from the supplied context. The safer pattern is to provide evidence and ask the model to stay inside it.
For important decisions, separate generation from verification: let AI draft the answer, then check the claims against primary sources, your own data or a retrieval system.
Practice
Apply the pattern above to one real task you already do. Keep the first version small enough that you can inspect every input and output.
Never ask the model to invent a citation or source to make an answer look complete.
Treat fluent output as a draft. For factual work, require evidence and verify important claims.