# An AI invented two wrong definitions

AI galaxy · Cédric Merlin, CTO · https://merlin-cedric.fr/en/ia/hallucination/

A caution instruction is not enough: I give the model document excerpts, otherwise the answer is “absent from the sources”.

## The problem

Asked about a business acronym, a model gave two definitions, both wrong, with total confidence. And it had been told to say “I don’t know”.

## What I did

1. **The instruction fails.** Asking the model to be careful is not enough.
2. **Only excerpts.** I now give it nothing but document excerpts.
3. **Otherwise: absent from the sources.** With no relevant excerpt, the answer is “absent from the sources”, without even querying the model.

## The result

A rule I apply everywhere, including to my own assistants.

## Stack

RAG, Qdrant

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Page: https://merlin-cedric.fr/en/ia/hallucination/ · Contact: contact@merlin-cedric.fr
