AI Fundamentals · 8 min
AI Hallucinations: Why They Happen and How to Reduce Risk
An AI hallucination is an output that presents incorrect or unsupported information as if it were reliable. It can occur because language models generate plausible sequences rather than guaranteeing truth.
Reduce the risk
- Provide authoritative source material.
- Ask for uncertainty and missing information to be identified.
- Require citations when research is involved.
- Verify important claims independently.
- Keep humans responsible for consequential decisions.
Professional standard
Use AI as an assistant for reasoning and production, while treating verification as part of the workflow rather than an optional final step.