Checking

Eight rules, a nine-point checklist and prompts to have the AI check its answer.

To remember

The 8 rules

Context first, then the question.Country, rules, industry, people involved: the difference between a right answer and an answer that is right for someone else.
Ask for a draft, not the truth.What comes back is material to check, not a decision.
Say what you do not want, too.Phrases to avoid, forbidden shortcuts, the wrong tone: limits matter as much as requirements.
Do not take the constraint for granted.If a deadline, budget or premise could be wrong, ask the AI to check it.
Demand the doubts.Ask it to mark [to be verified] and to list the assumptions it made.
Be wary of precise numbers with vague sources."68% of managers" without an author, an organisation and a title is not data. Who says so? Where can I find it?
Prepare the context once, in the project.Fixed instructions, materials without sensitive data, your method as a skill. Then the question can be short.
You still sign off.AI speeds things up; responsibility, legal and ethical, cannot be delegated.

Before you use an answer

Two minutes. One "no" is enough to stop and check.

Does it apply to my country, my canton, my industry?Euros, CCNL (Italian collective agreements), TFR (Italian severance pay) or "4+4" (Italian lease terms) are signs of an Italian answer.
Did I give all the context a professional would have asked me for?
Did I leave out personal data, names and confidential documents?Descriptions and aggregated data are enough. For work, use a company account.
Did the answer question my premise, or did it just carry it out?
Does every number have a source I can find?Who says so? Where can I find it?
Do the articles of law, standards and studies it cites actually exist?
Does it promise too much?"100% protection", "it's all deductible", "everything will be fine".
What happens if it is wrong, and who is accountable?
If money, health, a contract or a person is at stake: have I shown it to someone who knows the job?

After the answer

The checklist tells you what to check. These five requests get the AI to do it, right after an important answer. Copy them into the same chat.

Facts or assumptions?

Which statements in your answer are verifiable facts and which are assumptions? Mark them with [fact] and [assumption].

Where each number comes from

For every number you used, tell me where it comes from. If you do not have a source I can open, write [to be verified].

The counter-argument

What is the strongest argument against your conclusion? Answer as someone who disagrees would.

What you are missing

What information are you missing to be sure of your answer? Ask me at most three questions.

The expert's eye

Reread the answer as [a lawyer / a fiduciary / an operations manager] in Switzerland would: what would they challenge, and why?

An AI that checks itself helps, but it does not replace verification: you open the sources yourself.