AI UNIT 1 • STAGE 4 OF 5
Right, Wrong & In Between
Spotting errors, stereotypes, and made-up details, and checking them like a pro
Three ways an AI goes wrong
Not all mistakes are the same. Learning to name them is what turns you from a user into a critical thinker. Watch for these three:
- A plain error, a fact that's just incorrect (wrong date, wrong location).
- A stereotype, a flat, one-size-fits-all idea about Native peoples that erases the differences between nations.
- A made-up detail, sometimes called a "hallucination." The AI invents something that sounds real (a fake quote, a made-up ceremony, a person who never existed) and states it confidently.
Test it on something you already know
Ask the AI a question you know the real answer to about your community. Then compare. This is the fastest way to catch it being confidently wrong.
Try these
Describe a traditional food of [your nation]. Tell me about an important leader from [your nation]. What are Native American beliefs?That last one is a trap on purpose. There is no single set of "Native American beliefs", there are hundreds of distinct nations. Watch whether the AI flattens them all into one.
Check it against a real source
Pick one AI answer and verify it. Open a trustworthy source in another tab, your nation's official website, a Tribal college, or a government page, and see if the AI was right.
🎯 The habit that protects you
"Trust, but verify" becomes just "verify" with AI. The AI is a starting point, never the final word, especially about your own people.
Label your evidence
In your Field Notes, collect one example of each: something accurate, something wrong or stereotyped, and something the AI appears to have made up. Note how you checked.
🌟 Almost there
You've now caught an AI in real mistakes about your own community, and proven it with sources. Stage 5 is where you pull it all together.
Collect one example of each, with proof:
- 1. Something ACCURATE the AI said:
- 2. Something WRONG or STEREOTYPED:
- 3. Something it seems to have MADE UP:
- 4. How I checked (which source I used):
Saved automatically.