Play the “real or made up?” check
Choose something easy to verify, such as a library book, a nearby museum, or an animal fact. Ask AI for three suggestions. Everyone privately picks one detail they want to check. The goal is to find out, not to catch someone out.
- Ask for three specific suggestions.
- Circle one title, name, place, or detail.
- Say where you expect to find reliable confirmation.
Look for independent evidence
Open a library catalog, museum website, or another source that exists outside the AI chat. Check the exact claim. A page that merely repeats the same AI text does not give you independent evidence.
- Match the name and detail carefully.
- If you cannot confirm it, mark it “not checked yet” rather than guessing.
Finish with a decision
Ask the child whether they would keep, change, or discard the original suggestion. If AI got it right, notice what made the check convincing. If it got it wrong, change one part of the prompt and see whether the next answer improves.
Try it together
Use a pretend trip: ask for a local place to visit, then check its official opening hours together. Do not travel or spend money based only on the AI answer.