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Class 8 · Computing and AI literacy

When an AI answer sounds sure but is wrong

An AI chat tool answers instantly and sounds completely sure. Does that mean it is right?

What you will learn: Check a fictional, confident AI answer and find its errors.

Small test at the end: scroll down to the end of this page for five short questions that check what you have learnt. Tap an answer, then press Check answer. Go to the questions ↓

Jump to: Check yourself · For grown-ups · For teachers

Safety first

No AI tool needed. Never type personal details online.

Keep it safe:

  • No real AI tool is needed or used. Do not type personal details into any online tool.

You will need

  • The fictional AI answer on this pageIt is made up. No real AI tool is needed or used.
  • A science textbookOr another reliable printed source.

Time: About 40 minutes.

The story

Tanmay asks a made-up AI chat tool for help with his science homework. In one second it answers, in perfect sentences, that water boils at 80 °C at sea level. "Done!" he says. Tara opens the textbook. The tool sounded completely sure. Does that make it right?

The idea

AI chat tools work by predicting likely words, one after another, from patterns in the text they learned from. They do not check each fact against a source the way a careful person does.

So they can state a wrong fact in a confident, fluent sentence. Sounding sure tells you nothing on its own.

To check an AI answer, split it into separate claims and check each one in a reliable source, such as a textbook or an official website.

Record each claim as supported (with the source named), wrong (with the correction) or not checked yet.

A table checking a made-up AI answer. Claim: water boils at 80 °C at sea level. Textbook: about 100 °C. Verdict: wrong. Claim: water freezes at 0 °C. Supported. Claim: water boils at a lower temperature on high mountains. Textbook: yes, lower. Supported.Fact-checking a made-up AI answerClaim in the answerTextbook saysVerdictBoils at 80 °C at sea levelAbout 100 °CWrongFreezes at 0 °C0 °CSupportedBoils lower on high mountainsYes, lowerSupported
A table checking a made-up AI answer. Claim: water boils at 80 °C at sea level. Textbook: about 100 °C. Verdict: wrong. Claim: water freezes at 0 °C. Supported. Claim: water boils at a lower temperature on high mountains. Textbook: yes, lower. Supported.

Worked example

Checking a made-up AI answer about water

  1. The (made-up) answer: "Water freezes at 0 °C and boils at 80 °C at sea level. On high mountains it boils at a lower temperature."
  2. Split into three claims.
  3. Textbook: freezes at 0 °C, supported. Boils at about 100 °C at sea level, so 80 °C is wrong. Lower boiling point on mountains, supported.
  4. The wrong claim sat between two right ones, written just as confidently.

Two claims supported, one wrong. Checking each claim separately caught the error.

Try it

  1. Read the made-up answer.

    Underline each separate claim.

  2. Make a table.

    Columns: claim, what the source says, verdict.

  3. Check each claim.

    Look it up in the textbook. Write the page.

  4. Write verdicts.

    Supported, wrong (with the correction), or not checked yet.

  5. Rewrite the answer.

    Write a correct version in your own words.

What you make (paper or offline)

Your fact-check table

A fact-check table for a made-up AI answer with claims, sources and verdicts.Fact-checking a made-up AI answerClaim in the answerTextbook saysVerdictBoils at 80 °C at sea levelAbout 100 °CWrongFreezes at 0 °C0 °CSupportedBoils lower on high mountainsYes, lowerSupported
A fact-check table for a made-up AI answer with claims, sources and verdicts.

Every claim in a table, with the source checked.

A verdict and correction for each.

Your corrected answer.

Make it on paper. Keep it with you. Nothing to upload.

Check yourself

Five questions about what this page teaches. Choose an answer and press Check answer, or open "See the answer and why". Nothing is saved or sent: your choices stay on this screen and disappear when you leave or reload the page.

  1. Question 1 of 5The made-up AI answer said water boils at 80 °C at sea level. What is the correct value?

    See the answer and why
    • A. 0 °C Not this one. 0 °C is where water freezes.
    • B. 80 °C Not this one. That is the wrong claim the check caught.
    • C. 212 °C Not this one. 212 is the boiling point in degrees Fahrenheit, not Celsius.
    • D. About 100 °C Correct. At sea level, water boils at about 100 °C.
  2. Question 2 of 5Why can an AI chat tool state a wrong fact confidently?

    See the answer and why
    • A. Because confident answers are correct Not this one. Confidence and correctness are different things.
    • B. It is lying on purpose to trick the person asking Not this one. It does not intend anything. It predicts words.
    • C. It predicts likely words without checking facts Correct. Fluent words can still be wrong.
    • D. It only makes mistakes in maths Not this one. It can make mistakes on any topic.
  3. Question 3 of 5What is the best way to check a claim in an AI answer?

    See the answer and why
    • A. Judge by how sure it sounds Not this one. Sounding sure is not evidence.
    • B. Check the spelling and grammar Not this one. Good grammar does not make a fact right.
    • C. Look it up in a reliable source, such as a textbook Correct. A reliable source can confirm or correct it.
    • D. Ask the same tool the same question again and compare Not this one. It may repeat the same mistake. Agreeing with itself is not a check.
  4. Question 4 of 5An answer sounded very sure. What does that tell you, on its own, about whether it is correct?

    See the answer and why
    • A. That it has checked a textbook Not this one. The tool does not check a textbook as it writes.
    • B. Nothing Correct. You still need to check it in a source.
    • C. It must be wrong Not this one. It might be right. Confidence just is not evidence.
    • D. It must be correct Not this one. Sure-sounding answers can be wrong.
  5. Question 5 of 5In your fact-check table, one claim matched the textbook. What do you write as its verdict?

    See the answer and why
    • A. Supported, with the source named Correct. Naming the source lets others check it too.
    • B. Not checked yet Not this one. You did check it, and it matched the textbook.
    • C. Wrong Not this one. It matched the textbook, so it is supported.
    • D. Nothing: leave it blank Not this one. Every claim needs a verdict.

Think back

Was the wrong claim easy to spot before you checked?

Why is it useful to split an answer into separate claims?

Investigate further

  • Write your own made-up answer with one hidden mistake. Can a friend find it?
  • Check three facts from a quiz book in your textbook.

For grown-upsTap a heading to open it. The safety notes are at the top of the page.

Before you start
  • A textbook. No AI tool or account is needed for this activity.
Questions that help
  • "How do we know that one is right?"
  • "Where did you check it?"
What's really going on

AI chat tools generate likely text and can produce confident errors. Checking claims against sources is the key habit.

This activity uses a prepared, fictional answer so no child data goes to any online service.

Other ways to do it
  • Use a made-up paragraph from a "website" written by you with one error.

For teachersLearning aims, classroom ideas and what to look for.

Learning aims
  • Explain why fluent AI text can be wrong.
  • Fact-check claims against reliable sources and record verdicts.
Subject links
  • Computing: AI literacy.
  • Science: checking facts.
  • Language: summarising and correcting.

These links are general. They have not been checked against a specific board syllabus.

In the classroom
  • Groups get different fictional answers, each with one error, and swap tables to check each other.
What to look for
  • Splits the answer into claims.
  • Names a source for each verdict.
ProLearners Assist