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AI Explorers 6-8 / Week 09 / Explorer Quest
6/6
Week 09 · Confident and Wrong

Explorer Quest

Explorer Quest: Sure or True?
// Why smooth answers still need checking
⏱ about 20 min

Explorer Quest: Sure or True?

Rocket holds up a stack of cards with a grin. "New game! I read each card in my most confident voice."

"Some are true and some are false. You decide which," he says.

Raven narrows her eyes. "And we are allowed to check?"

"Only with a trusted source," Rocket says. "A calendar, a photo album or a dictionary."

Nova floats above the cards. "Watch what happens when everyone sounds sure," she says.

"Then count how often sure and true were the same thing."

Rocket clears his throat and reads the first card.

  1. Confabulation is when generative AI confidently states something false.
  2. It is a natural result of statistical prediction; the same method can give true or false outputs.
  3. The risk grows for long, open-ended answers and expert topics.
  4. Automation bias is trusting machines too much. Real AI is a tool, not a person.
  5. Check important answers with a trusted source before you believe or share them.
◇ SURE OR TRUE CARD GAME
Each player writes four cards about your family or home: two true, two false.
Use facts you can check, such as a birthday on the calendar or a word in the dictionary.
Take turns reading cards aloud in a confident voice.
Listeners vote sure-and-true or sure-and-false, then check with a trusted source.
Tally how many votes were right before checking.
PlayerCards readVotes right before checkingTrusted source used
4
4
4
For a grown-up
Ask: how did it feel to hear false facts said in a confident voice?
Share a time you believed something that sounded sure but turned out wrong.
Remind your explorer to ask you before using any AI tool outside this course.
QUEST CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Every card was read in a confident voice. Did confidence tell you which were true?
What did you use to decide what was really true?
A chatbot gives a long, sure answer about an expert topic. What should you do first?
Trusting a machine too much is automation what? Type one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISEAutomation bias is trusting an automated system too much.
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