AI’s Confabulations: A Better Term for Hallucinations and How to Minimize Them

The rapid advancement of AI systems has brought both excitement and concerns. One such concern revolves around the mistakes AI models make, often referred to as “hallucinations” in academic literature. However, the term “confabulation” may be more appropriate due to its more accurate representation of the creative gap-filling principle at work in AI systems. In this article, we will explore how to minimize confabulations in AI systems through various strategies that focus on prevention, correction, and optimization.

Strategies to Minimize AI Confabulations on the First Run

Navigating the world of AI can be a challenging endeavor, especially when it comes to generating accurate and reliable responses. By employing specific strategies, such as assigning a distinct role to the AI system, instructing it to admit when it doesn’t know the answer, and emphasizing the importance of factual information, users can optimize their interactions with AI technology. These approaches not only help mitigate potential confabulations but also pave the way for a more fruitful and efficient collaboration between humans and AI systems.

1. Assign a specific role: Implementation can be complex, but you can start with something as simple as a prompt like you are a senior programmer or pretend you are an expert SEO content writer. This helps to give the AI system a specific context for generating responses.
2. Instruct the AI to admit when it doesn’t know the answer: Use prompts such as Check if thing1 is true or false; if false, say you don't know; if true, answer this next question about it. This encourages the AI to avoid filling gaps with confabulations.
3. Tell the AI not to make things up: Use prompts like Don't make anything up; only use info based in fact. This can help reduce the likelihood of the AI generating confabulations.
4. Break tasks into smaller steps to provide explicit instructions and guidance: Although this approach may seem simple, it is probably the best way to ensure long-term consistency across multiple examples.

Strategies for Accepting that AI, Like Humans, Makes Mistakes

Once you come to the understanding that, just like any writer, AI systems can make mistakes, you can implement strategies to catch and correct them. As it turns out, just asking AI to check its own work can catch many of its mistakes. Some important points to note about this approach are:

1. If the task requires up-to-date information, you need to provide that as well. Remember that no matter which model you use, there is a cutoff point for known information, and that point may be years ago.
2. Use prompts like Please review the text above, check all/any facts and statements, then report any falsehoods or Above are some facts, below is my article. Please check the article for factual errors and report any mistakes.

As AI continues to advance, understanding and addressing confabulations become increasingly important. By using the strategies outlined in this article, we can minimize AI confabulations that make it to the final product and improve the overall performance of AI systems. However, it is essential to remember that AI is not infallible, and setting realistic expectations ultimately is key to successful implementation.