AI Search Answers Need More Than an Accuracy Check

The useful part

x A University of Virginia librarian argues that understanding the type of answer is crucial to deciding whether it can be trusted or needs further investigation. Instead of presenting links, as Google had been doing for many years, it gave me an answer. This time the AI answer presented me with medical information, warned about risks and offered more tailored guidance if I provided my age and medical history.

How it works

• If the answer cites a source, follow that link instead of simply treating the answer itself as proof.
• The answer depends on what evidence is included, what is left out and how disagreement is understood.
• A useful follow-up question to present to the search engine is: "What is the strongest evidence for a different conclusion?" Constructive answers are made rather than discovered.
• For the aspirin question, a useful follow-up would be: "What details about my age, medical history or bleeding risk could change this advice?
• The first question after an answer ------------------------------------ My questions began as ordinary Google searches.

What to take from it

The answers combine information with judgment about goals, risks, trade-offs and personal circumstances. Google warned about risks, told me to consult a medical professional and offered more tailored information if I provided my age, cardiovascular history and risk of bleeding. It says the decision to start low-dose aspirin for prevention of heart attacks and strokes should be individualized and weigh cardiovascular benefit against bleeding risk.

Example or evidence

• I find it useful to sort AI answers into an "answer typography" of four broad types: factual, interpretive, constructive and strategic.
• An interpretation can be accurate and still reflect choices about which evidence matters.
• A construction can be well reasoned and still be wrong for the person receiving it.
• I'm university librarian and dean of libraries at the University of Virginia who leads national efforts to develop AI competencies for library professionals, and I consult widely on AI literacy.

Details worth keeping

How much screen time is too much for teenagers? The artificial intelligence agent cited a number, then complicated that reply, noting that quality and balance of time could matter more than the number of hours, and that "too much" time could depend on a teenager's sleep, exercise, school demands and mood. What interested me was that they were different kinds of replies.

Related coverage

• Fastcompany: I recently typed a simple question into Google search: How much screen time is too much for teenagers?
• Techbuzzireland: AI customer service agents give confidently wrong answers because they are built to produce fluent, plausible text, not to verify whether that text is true.
• Inc: More than polished prose, creative agencies need human opinions instead of AI outputs.