May 7th, 2026
Happy Thursday!
Welcome back to HOW TO // AI — glad you're here!
Here's what we've got for ya:
🚨 Your AI Is Lying to You — Here's How to Catch It
📥 Free Download: The AI Fact-Check Kit (Notion Template)
🧑💼 Your AI Team Is Waiting — Meet Marblism
Let's get started!
🚨 Your AI Is Lying to You — Here's How to Catch It Before It Causes a Problem
A few weeks ago I was using Claude to research something for the newsletter. It gave me a statistic, cited it confidently, and I almost used it. Something felt slightly off so I looked it up. The number didn't exist. Claude had made it up.
This is called hallucination. AI doesn't flag it or slow down. It just keeps going in the same calm tone it uses when it's completely right.
Since I started using AI every day for my morning routine, my work, and this newsletter, I've had to build in a habit of checking. Here are the three prompts I use to do that.
🎁 Free download: The AI Fact-Check Kit
Prompts for verifying AI output, asking for sources, stress-testing answers, and knowing when to trust vs. check — all in one Notion template.
Prompt 1: Ask for Sources
The simplest thing you can do. Most people never ask.
What's your source for that?
List the specific articles, studies, or data you're drawing on — with publication names and dates.
If you're not certain of the source, tell me clearly rather than guessing.
If AI responds with "studies suggest..." or can't name a real publication, that's your cue to check independently before using anything it told you.
Prompt 2: Stress-Test the Answer
This is the one I use most. Run it on anything you're about to publish, send, or act on.
Play devil's advocate on what you just told me.
What might be wrong, outdated, or oversimplified in your previous response?
What should I verify before acting on this?
AI is surprisingly good at spotting its own weak spots when you ask directly. Most people just never ask.
Prompt 3: The Confidence Check
I started using this after the statistic incident above. It changes how you read every response.
How confident are you in this answer on a scale of 1-10, and why?
What parts are you least certain about?
Is any of this a best guess rather than something you know clearly?
A well-calibrated AI will tell you where it's on shaky ground. You just have to ask.
The Four Areas Where I've Seen It Go Wrong Most
Worth knowing before you run these prompts so you know what you're looking for.
Statistics and numbers are where I've been caught out the most. Any specific number worth using is worth a quick search to verify.
Quotes and attributions are frequently wrong. I've seen Claude attribute quotes to the wrong person more than once. If you're going to quote someone, find the original source yourself.
Anything recent is risky. AI has a knowledge cutoff. I work around this by saving 5 hours a week on tasks that don't require current information, and separately checking anything time-sensitive.
Specific details like company names, URLs, laws, and prices are high-risk. The more specific the detail, the more likely AI is filling a gap with something plausible-sounding.
💡 "AI isn't wrong because it's bad at its job. It's wrong because it's confident — and you didn't ask it to doubt itself."
The full kit — a quick-reference checklist, prompts by content type, and a when-to-trust-vs-check guide — is in the free download above.
If you want to learn anything faster using AI as a tutor, or use AI to make extra money, both of those issues are worth reading alongside this one.
🎯 Try this today: Take something AI told you recently that you didn't verify. Run Prompt 2 on it. Reply and tell me what came back — I read every email.
📬 In Case You Missed Our Last Few Issues
☀️ What I Do Before 8am — The AI Daily Habit
Three prompts, ten minutes, before your inbox opens. Includes the free AI Daily Habit Kit with morning, end-of-day, and weekly planning prompts.
👉 Why Your AI Keeps Giving You Generic Answers — And the Fix
10 before/after prompt rewrites showing exactly what changes and why. Free Better Prompts Kit included.
💰 5 Ways People Are Making Extra Money With AI
Freelance writing, digital products, social media management, resume services, newsletters. Free AI Income Starter Kit included.
🧑💼 Your AI Team Is Waiting
I talk a lot about using AI to get more done yourself. But there's another way to think about it — hiring AI to do the jobs you keep putting off.
Marblism gives you six AI employees for $29/month, each built for a specific role. Eva handles your inbox, Penny writes SEO blog posts, Sonny manages social media, Stan finds leads, Rachel takes customer calls, and Linda reviews contracts. You brief them once on your business and they get to work. They only come back to you when they need a decision.
What I find interesting about Marblism is that the team communicates with each other. Penny publishes a blog post and Sonny picks it up automatically and turns it into social content. You don't have to connect the dots yourself.
WhatsApp-style interface, no complicated setup, 7-day money-back guarantee.
What did you think of this newsletter?
🤔 Got Questions?
Have a question you want answered? Email [email protected] and you just might be featured in an upcoming issue!
This newsletter is your starter kit for mastering AI with confidence. We keep things simple, show real examples, and focus on quick wins you can repeat.
Stay curious, stick with it, and watch your skills grow week by week!
Until next time :)
— David
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