Articles
Guides and analysis on proof42.com
Twelve in-depth articles by Zoltán Varga. Each one answers a single question, starting with the short answer.
Why AI Makes Things Up: It Fills In What It Half Knows
Fabrication stems from statistical pattern completion, not total ignorance, shifting where you must look for errors.
Ghost Citations: Why Real Links Don't Say What AI Claims
A pre-registered study reveals that checking if a link works misses the majority of AI hallucinations because the page exists but supports the wrong story.
How to Check an AI Citation in Five Steps
A practical checklist to distinguish real sources from plausible-sounding fabrications generated by large language models.
Prompt Framing That Reduces Fabricated Sources
New pre-registered data shows that demanding better sources does not increase fake citations, while specific uncertainty markers eliminate them.
Does Asking AI 'Are You Sure?' Catch Its Mistakes?
Asking an AI to verify its own output rarely fixes factual errors and can sometimes degrade accuracy.
Chain-of-Verification: How to Fact-Check AI Answers Yourself
A practical four-step workflow to validate AI output by separating generation from independent fact-checking.
Types of AI Hallucination: A Field Guide for Users
Distinguish between confident lies, memory gaps, and plausible errors to build a reliable verification routine for your daily AI use.
Can You Trust an AI's Confidence?
High fluency does not equal high accuracy; learn to distinguish between stylistic authority and factual reliability in AI responses.
Search-Grounded AI vs Plain Chatbots: When It Matters
Grounding reduces fake links but rarely eliminates source errors; know when to switch tools and when to verify manually.
Daily AI Verification Habits: A Personal Checklist for Trust
Technical knowledge alone does not prevent trust errors; use this practical checklist to verify AI claims before acting on them.