It can be wrong

Claude can be confidently wrong. Check anything it states as fact.

Claude writes smoothly, and that makes mistakes hard to spot. It can get a date wrong, invent a figure, or quote something nobody said. It's more likely with recent events.

Anthropic's own help pages say not to treat Claude as your only source of truth. Drafts, ideas and wording are yours to judge. Facts need a check.

Read it like an editor

1. 1

   Read it through

   Read the whole answer once, for sense.

2. 2

   Circle the facts

   Names, dates, numbers, quotes, rules. Anything you'd repeat to a client.

3. 3

   Check or ask

   Look them up somewhere you trust. If one's wrong, tell Claude and ask it to fix it.

Test it on your turf

Pick a topic you know better than most people. Your field, your town, your hobby.

Tell me five facts about [something you know well].

Copy the line

Read the answer slowly. Mark anything that's wrong, missing or oddly vague. Then tell Claude what's off and see how it corrects itself.

If it gets everything right, try something more recent or more local. That's where mistakes hide.

Being fooled once isn't the problem. Passing it on in your name is. A two-minute check keeps your name on good work.