Checking AI answers
Strategy card
Verify AI output like a reviewer: reasoning, evidence and limits.
- Step 1: Form your own answer or estimate first.
- Step 2: Audit each step: is it valid? Is the data real?
- Step 3: Check claims against primary or reliable sources.
- Step 4: Note what the answer leaves out or assumes.
Tip: Fluent writing is not evidence. Sources and checkable steps are.
Worked example
Which would most weaken the conclusion?
A study found that people who own dogs live longer on average. A writer concludes: “Owning a dog makes you live longer.”
- A: Some cats live a long time.
- B: The study was reported on TV.
- C: People who are already healthy and active are more likely to choose to own dogs. (the answer)
- D: Dogs need to be walked every day.
Why: If healthier people choose dogs, health could explain both dog ownership and longer lives.
Your turn
Your turn 1 of 3
What is the median (middle value when put in order)?
Your turn 2 of 3
Which part is a fact you could check?
A pretend AI helper says: “The Moon is about 384,000 km from Earth. The Moon is the most beautiful thing in the sky.”
Your turn 3 of 3
How many books in all?
Keep practicing
Grown-ups: Discuss when it's fine to use AI and when to rely on your own work. Parent guide
Next lesson: What comes next?