Definition
Hallucination refers to AI models producing content that sounds plausible but is factually incorrect, fabricated, or nonsensical.
Why Hallucinations Happen: - Models predict probable next tokens, not truth - Training data may contain errors - Models lack real-world grounding - Overconfidence in generation
- **Types of Hallucinations:**
- Factual Errors: Wrong dates, names, statistics
- Fabricated Sources: Made-up citations or quotes
- Logical Inconsistencies: Self-contradicting statements
- Confident Nonsense: Plausible-sounding gibberish
Mitigation Strategies: - Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) - Fact-checking pipelines - User verification - Temperature reduction
Examples
An LLM citing a non-existent research paper or inventing historical events.
Related Terms
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