The model is paid, in spirit, to sound finished. Finished is not the same as true. The expensive version of this is a citation, a price, or a policy clause that never existed — in an email with your signature.
Aside. The robot does not get your badge. Your manager still reads the email with your name on it.
Hallucination, without the mystique
It predicted a plausible next sentence. The book, the URL, the “section 4.2 of our policy,” the case name — none of those had to be in the world. Fluency is the trap.
Tells worth a pause:
- A specific number you did not provide
- A link that looks right and 404s
- A quote from a person who did not say it
- Math that did not go through a spreadsheet
The loop
- Generate a draft
- Review like you dislike the intern
- Verify in the system that holds the fact
- Refine or throw it out
Skip the loop for a grocery list. Do not skip it for a customer, a regulator, or your boss.
Privacy in one rule
Consumer chat is a postcard. Team / enterprise chat is still a postcard to a vendor, with a better contract. Never paste passwords, card numbers, health records, or a list of people who did not agree to go for a ride. Redact names to [Client A]. If the job needs the real record, work in the system that already has it.
Try this today
Ask a model for “three sources” on a topic you know. Open them. Note how many are real. That itch in your stomach is the skill.
You are done when
You have a written personal rule: what never goes in, and what always gets a second tab.