Kingy AI Certificate · Lesson 1 of 6
When AI gets it wrong
About 6 minutes. No signup.
AI writes clearly and sounds confident. That doesn't mean it's right. The fix is simple: check it against the real thing.
Why it matters
AI can't know your workplace's own details: your prices, your opening times, your rules. If you ask without giving it the document, it has nothing real to go on.
In our test of 8 AI models (9 November 2026), we asked 96 questions about made-up workplaces without giving the AI the document. The models:
- said they didn't know, or asked for the document, 81% of the time
- gave a guess with a warning 15% of the time
- stated a guess as if it were fact 3% of the time
So in our test, AI usually said when it didn't know. But not always, and a guess with a warning can still end up in your email if you skim past the warning. One model even answered as if our made-up leisure centre were a real one with a different name.
And even when you do give it the document, it can misread a number or mix up two dates. That's why a person checks.
The habit: check it against the source
- Find the source. The price list, the policy, the email, the timetable. Whatever the answer should come from.
- Check every fact you'll rely on. Numbers, dates, times, prices, names of things, "yes" or "no" answers.
- Fix what's wrong before you use it. Don't just hope nobody notices.
Watch out for extras too. AI sometimes adds a friendly promise that isn't in the source, like "and parking is free". If the source doesn't say it, take it out.
Try it (2 minutes, with your own AI)
A colleague used AI to answer a customer. Here's the real price sheet and the AI's reply. Both are made up.
See a good way to do it
What to paste:
Check this reply against the price sheet. List anything that's wrong, then give me a corrected reply. [paste both]
There are three mistakes: the full service is $90 (not $75), it's ready in 2 working days (not the next day), and the shop is closed on Sundays (not open 7 days). The puncture price is right.
Then you check the AI's list against the price sheet too. If it missed one, you catch it.
Check yourself
1. AI tells you the staff Christmas party is on 12 December. What do you do?
- Use it: AI sounded sure
- Ask the AI "are you sure?"
- Check the email or calendar invite
Answer
Check the email or invite. That's the source. Asking the AI again only gets you another guess.
2. You gave AI your shop's returns policy, and its reply looks right. Do you still need to check it?
- No, it had the policy
- Yes, check the numbers and dates you'll rely on
Answer
Yes. Giving it the document helps a lot, but it can still misread a number. A quick check of the key facts takes seconds.
3. AI's reply adds "and delivery is free". Your price list says nothing about delivery. What do you do?
Answer
Take it out. If the source doesn't say it, don't promise it.
In the certificate test
One task gives you a real source and an earlier AI answer with mistakes planted in it. You use your own AI to check it, then hand in the corrected reply. We check that you gave your AI the source, that the right facts are in your reply, and that the planted wrong ones aren't. Everyone gets a different version, so the mistakes you get won't be the ones a friend got.