A user asks a generative AI model about the scientific accuracy of a popular science...

The limitation described is the AI model generating a false or misleading response (humans traveling faster than light is scientifically impossible/unproven) and presenting it as fact (confidently stating a fictional theory is real) without the ability to indicate its uncertainty or the source's fictional nature. This is the definition of a Hallucination in generative AI.

AI Hallucinations occur when a Large Language Model (LLM) generates outputs that are factually incorrect, irrelevant, or nonsensical, despite being linguistically fluent and seemingly plausible. They arise because the model is designed to predict the most statistically probable next word or token based on its training data, even when it lacks information or when its training data contains a mixture of fact and fiction. The model is overconfident in its generated response, a behavior that diminishes user trust and reliability, especially in applications where factual accuracy is critical. While a knowledge cutoff (B) is a common cause of hallucinations when an LLM is asked about recent events, the core limitation of fabricating facts from its own hardwired knowledge is the hallucination itself. Data dependency (A) relates to the model's reliance on the quality and completeness of its training data, and while flawed training data can be a cause, the error mode of inventing facts is the Hallucination.

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