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
What went wrong in the summary?
An AI tool summarizes a news article and says the city “banned all cars downtown.” The original article says the city “banned cars on one downtown street on Sundays.”
- A: It was too short.
- B: It used the wrong date format.
- C: It overgeneralized: it made a small, specific change sound much bigger. (the answer)
- D: Nothing; the summary is accurate.
Why: One street on Sundays is very different from all of downtown. Always compare a summary with its source.
Your turn
Your turn 1 of 3
Which statement is supported by the data?
| Owls | Foxes | Bears | Otters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| books | 30 | 65 | 85 | 15 |
Your turn 2 of 3
Which best describes the flaw?
“Since our town built the new skate park, there have been fewer broken windows downtown. The skate park stopped the vandalism.”
Your turn 3 of 3
What is the median (middle value when put in order)?
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?