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Check an AI answer against your textbook

Practice: Catching mistakes and made-up facts. About 5 minutes.

About this exercise

You asked a chatbot about the causes of the Dust Bowl for your American History 120 reading quiz, and you want to check its answer against your assigned textbook pages before studying from it. You want each claim in the AI answer that the textbook contradicts, as a numbered line in the form "AI said X; textbook says Y", under 100 words in total, in plain text, with nothing else. Treat the textbook as the only source of truth, and don't flag claims it simply doesn't mention.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Asking "is this right?". The AI writes a long review of the whole answer, praising the good parts and mixing in its own knowledge. Try: Name the job: "List only claims the textbook contradicts."
  • Letting the AI use its own knowledge. The AI checks against what it remembers, not your textbook, and may flag things your class never covered. Try: Say: "The textbook excerpt is the only source of truth."
  • Counting 'not mentioned' as wrong. The AI treats anything missing from the textbook as an error, so true but extra details get flagged. Try: Add: "Skip claims the textbook doesn't mention."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands 10-20% over. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 15 words."
  • Getting a formatted report. AI defaults to bold headings and a table, which is hard to paste into your notes. Try: Ask for "plain text numbered lines, no bold."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Names the source of truth
  • Asks for contradictions only
  • Skips unmentioned claims
  • Gives the line format
  • Sets a length limit

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