Ben asks a chatbot for four picture books about friendship for his fourth graders. He searches the school library catalog for each one.
Rosa asks a chatbot to summarize her shop's refund policy for her website.
Maya plans how to talk with her kids about answers that sound sure but are wrong.
Each of them is about to meet the same problem in a different place.
Read your own track first. Each one uses this week's ideas: confabulation, made-up sources and automation bias.
A homework helper can give a confident wrong answer, and even a source that cannot be found.
You do not need to know the subject to help. You can ask your child to show where each fact came from.
One plain way to say it: "It sounds sure, but sounding sure is not the same as being right."
Whether your child uses any AI tool is your decision. If they do, sit with them and check answers together.
Here is Ben's reading list. The titles and authors were made up for this lesson, and so are the catalog results.
| Book | Ben's catalog search |
|---|---|
| The Bridge Between Us | Found, with this author |
| Two Kites, One Wind | Found, with this author |
| The Lunch Table Map | Found, with this author |
| Harbor Light Friends | No record anywhere Ben looks |
A list can look complete and still include a book that may not exist. The prize line is another unchecked claim.
Check every title before it reaches families or students.
Here is Rosa's real policy, and the summary a chatbot gave her. Both were written for this lesson.
| Rosa's policy | The chatbot's summary |
|---|---|
| If flowers arrive damaged, contact us within 24 hours with a photo. | Damaged flowers are replaced if reported within 24 hours. Photos are optional. |
| We will replace the order. | Customers can get a full refund within 7 days for any reason. |
| We do not give cash refunds. | Refunds go back to the original card. |
The summary invents a refund rule Rosa never wrote. If she posts it, customers will expect it.
Always check a summary against the document it came from, line by line.
| Rosa's summary line | Matches her policy? |
|---|---|
| Damaged flowers are replaced if reported within 24 hours. | ? |
| Photos are optional. | ? |
| Customers can get a full refund within 7 days. | ? |
| Refunds go back to the original card. | ? |
Sources: NIST AI 600-1, Generative AI Profile (2024)
Tomorrow: a short review of the week.