AI Work Basics – What AI Can and Cannot Reliably Do
Lesson 3: When AI Gets It Wrong – Spotting and Recovering
Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
- Name the five common ways AI answers go wrong.
- Match each problem to a recovery prompt.
- Decide when to stop and do the task without AI.
Lesson Content
Every AI tool makes mistakes. The skill is spotting them quickly and knowing the fix. Here are the five you will see most:
- Made-up facts. The AI states a number, quote, rule, or name that is not real. It sounds confident anyway.
- Missing context. The answer is generic because the AI did not know your situation.
- Out-of-date information. Prices, laws, product features, and news change. The AI may not know.
- Wrong tone. Too formal, too pushy, too casual, or too long for the reader.
- Doing the wrong job. You asked for a checklist and got an essay, or asked for a review and got a rewrite.
Each one has a matching recovery prompt:
- Made-up facts: "Use only the information I gave you. Mark anything you are unsure about as UNVERIFIED."
- Missing context: "Here is more about my situation: [details]. Rewrite it for this situation."
- Out-of-date: "Do not state prices, dates, or rules. Tell me what to check and where."
- Wrong tone: "Rewrite this for [reader]. Make it [calm / friendly / brief]."
- Wrong job: "Stop rewriting. Give me only a checklist of [what you need]."
When to stop: if two clarification prompts do not fix it, or the topic is high-stakes and you cannot verify the answer, write it yourself or ask a qualified person.
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