L10. Check an answer before using it

You will find errors in a draft and save a checked introduction in checked-intro.txt. Allow about 45 minutes. Prepare about-me.txt, Notepad, a calculator, a browser and one available chat.

In class

The teacher presents a fluent but inaccurate paragraph about Olena. Together, mark invented facts, check the duration with a calculator and choose evidence for each claim before saving the correction.

Plausibility is not evidence

Suppose an assistant introduces Olena like this:

Olena is an experienced designer who has launched
her website and the My Day application. Her next
project is a 60-second video about organising a desk.

The prose is smooth, but no profession was given, the projects are only planned, and the video should last 30–45 seconds. Errors can be neatly inserted facts nobody supplied.

Start by asking, “How do we know this?” Compare personal details with the note and a historical date with a primary source: material from the author or institution reporting it. Recalculate totals and open created files.

[[VIS:f5_verify_answer]]

Correct the text against its source

• Open about-me.txt beside the sample draft printed above. Identify three claims: profession, completed projects and video duration.
• Look for support in the note. If none exists, do not replace an invention with another guess. Remove the claim or mark the information as needing clarification.
• Open any of the three chats and send this prompt with the draft and source information:

Check the draft against the source information.
First identify unsupported or contradictory claims.
Then provide a corrected version of up to 40 words.
Do not add new facts.
Draft:
[paste the text]
Source information:
[paste about-me.txt]

The square brackets mark places to insert text. Replace them with the actual material before sending.

> [RESULT] “Olena enjoys books, walking and organising her home. She plans to create a personal website, the My Day application and a 30–45-second video about organising a desk.”

Compare the correction with about-me.txt, save it as Documents\AI-practice\checked-intro.txt, then close and reopen the file.

Check numbers separately

For her future video, Olena plans 10 seconds showing the mess, 20 seconds organising it and 15 seconds showing the finished desk. Enter 10 + 20 + 15 in a calculator. The result is 45 seconds, the plan’s upper limit. Adding a five-second title sequence makes 50: shorten other scenes or change the plan.

“The video is short” does not expose this mismatch. Check units and totals whenever an answer contains durations, costs, file counts or numbered items.

Open original sources for external facts

Opening a chat today does not make the model aware of every recent event. An assistant that actually uses search may obtain newer material. Open the returned link and check whether the page supports the claim.

For example, “The internet was invented at CERN in 1989” confuses the internet with the Web. Open CERN’s The birth of the Web [F228] and find 1989. It describes the creation of the Web. Correct the technology’s name in your note, rather than just checking the date.

To check prices, registration or tool availability, read current official documentation and record the date checked. If you cannot find support, mark the question as unresolved.

> [FIX] A link fails or its page does not support the claim. Visit the official website independently and find the topic in its help section. Do not treat an unchecked link as evidence.

Home practice

• Copy the checked introduction into AI-practice\check-home.txt. For this exercise, deliberately add “Olena has already published the application” and label it as a draft containing an error. Leave checked-intro.txt unchanged.
• Paste the draft and the contents of about-me.txt into an available chat, asking it to find unsupported claims. Under the draft, record the detected error and corrected wording. Compare them with the source yourself: the future project should again be a plan, not a completed achievement.

Self-test

• Two chats repeat the same unsupported profession. Has it become a fact?
• Does a video of 10 + 20 + 15 + 5 seconds fit a 45-second limit?
• The assistant supplies a link, but its page does not support the claim. Can you use it as evidence?

Words you will need

• Primary source: material from the institution, author or service directly reporting a fact.
• Assumption: a possible explanation that has not been confirmed.
• Check: comparing a result with information, a calculation or an actual action.