Humans Make Mistakes Too

One of the main pushbacks I hear about AI is that it can make mistakes. That’s true, but people sometimes say it as if humans aren’t capable of the same thing, or worse. The better rule is simple: trust, then verify.

One day, my son and I were watching a daddy-long-legs crawl up a wall. Another man walked over and teased my son, saying it was the most venomous spider in the world. My son looked confused because I’d told him they were safe.

Instead of arguing with the man, I thanked him for the information. Then we went home, looked it up, and found that the claim was an old myth. My son got his answer, and I regained a little credibility.

It doesn’t matter where information starts. What matters is what you do with it. If someone tells me the earth is square, I’ll thank them and move on. But if I’m writing a book or speaking at a conference, I’ll verify the information before I use it publicly.

That’s where the failure tends to happen. AI shouldn’t be your only verification tool. It can help spot inconsistencies, generate content, and fill gaps, but the final check should come from an authority on the subject. If you aren’t that authority, you’ll need to reach beyond AI for help.

It doesn’t matter whether AI generated the content or a human did. You’re still susceptible to bias, gullibility, and lack of experience. Check important facts against a source that didn’t produce them, and don’t rely on unchecked claims just because they came from a person.

This doesn’t mean you can’t use AI to help you verify. Remember you can ask AI for references, and you can read those to understand where it got the information. Just like with a person you don’t know, you might be wise to ask where they got their information and then check for yourself.

Let’s not frame AI as a problem simply because it can make mistakes. The problem is believing anyone (AI or otherwise) without verifying the information for yourself.