Beginner · 5 lessons · about 35 min · free certificate

Checking AI: sources, hallucinations and research you can trust

Build the habits that keep you from being fooled by confident-sounding AI. Learn to ask for sources, check them, read laterally, verify numbers, quotes and dates, and know when not to rely on AI.

For: Students, workers and curious adults who use AI for information and want to trust what they pass along.

Start lesson 1

When you finish

  • You can ask AI for sources in a way that makes them easy to verify.
  • You can confirm that a source exists and actually says what the AI claims.
  • You can use lateral reading to judge a website or claim quickly.
  • You can double-check numbers, quotes and dates before using them.
  • You can decide when a question should not be left to AI at all.

Lessons

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  1. Verification habits: trust, but checkabout 5 minWhen you finish, you can apply a quick check routine to any AI answer and decide how much checking it needs.
  2. Asking for sources, and checking themabout 6 minWhen you finish, you can ask AI for sources in a useful way and test whether those sources are real and say what is claimed.
  3. Lateral reading: judging a claim by leaving the pageabout 5 minWhen you finish, you can quickly judge whether a website, claim or AI-cited source deserves your trust.
  4. Numbers, quotes and dates: the details that trip you upabout 5 minWhen you finish, you can verify the specific details most likely to be wrong in AI output.
  5. AI search features, and when not to rely on AIabout 5 minWhen you finish, you can use AI search features wisely and recognize situations where AI should not be your source.

Final exam and certificate

10 questions. Score 8 or more for a free certificate of completion you can share and add to LinkedIn. Unlimited tries.

Take the final exam

Prompts you can use today

Copy one, replace the [brackets] with your details, and paste it into the AI tool you use. Leave out anything private.

Claims and checks list

Read the text below. List every factual claim that could be checked, such as names, numbers, dates and quotes. Next to each claim, say what kind of source would confirm it. Do not tell me whether the claims are true. Text: [paste text]

Ask for checkable sources

Answer this question: [question]. For each key point, name the type of source or organization that would publish this information, and describe exactly what I should search for. If you are not certain a specific source exists, say so instead of guessing.

Surface uncertainty

Rate your confidence (high, medium, low) for each statement in your last answer, and explain what would make you change your mind. Mark anything I should confirm elsewhere.

Find the opposing view

Here is a claim: [claim]. Give me the strongest evidence-based arguments against it and describe what a fair-minded expert might say. Tell me what kinds of sources I should check on each side.

Check a number

I found this number in an article: [number and claim]. List the questions I should ask about where it came from, who measured it, when, and how, and describe where I could find the original source.

Test my summary against the text

Here is a source text and my summary of it. Point out anything in my summary that the text does not actually say, any exaggeration, and anything important I left out. Source: [paste] Summary: [paste]

Plain-language risk check

I am thinking about relying on AI for this task: [task]. What could go wrong if the AI is wrong, who could be affected, and what should I have a qualified person or an official source confirm?

Ask the AI tutor

Ask anything about this course, in any language. The tutor is an AI: it can be wrong, and it never needs your personal details.

AI-drafted. Checked by an automated validator and a separate AI reviewer; a person has not read every lesson. Translations and tutor answers are AI-made. Found a mistake? Tell us. Tool facts last checked November 2026; features change, so check the product's own help pages. AI can be wrong. General information, not professional advice. Product names identify the tools taught; no affiliation or endorsement. Current University is not accredited; certificates of completion are not degrees, credit or licenses.