Hallucinations are a problem with all AI chatbots, and it’s healthy to develop the habit of not trusting them, here are a a couple of simple ways i use to get better answers, or get more visibility into how the chat arrived at that answer so i can decide if i can trust the answer or not.
(Note: none of these is bulletproof: never trust AI with critical stuff where a mistake is catastrophic)
- “Double check your answer”.
Super simple. You’d be surprise how often Claude will find a problem and provide a better answer.
If the cost of a mistake is high, I will often rise and repeat, with:
“Are you sure?”
“Take a deep breath and think about it”. Research shows adding this to your requests gets you better answers. Why? Who cares. It does.
- “Use chain of thought”. This is a powerful one. Add this to your requests gets, and Claude will lay out its logic behind the answer. You’ll notice the answers are better, but more importantly it gives you a way to judge whether Claude is going about it the right way.
Try:
> How many windows are in Manhattan. Use chain of thought
> What’s wrong with my CV? I’m getting not interviews. Use chain of thought.
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