Concept dictionary
Hallucination
A hallucination is AI-generated content that presents false, fabricated, or unsupported information as though it were a valid response.
- Review state
- Needs review
- Freshness
- Current
- Version
- 2
Also called
- Hallucination
- AI Hallucination
Remember it this wayPlausible language is not evidence.
In plain language
A generative model can produce names, citations, events, explanations, or details that fit the language pattern of an answer without being supported by reliable evidence.
Why it matters
Fluent presentation can make unsupported claims easy to accept. Consequences grow when people use them in legal, medical, financial, operational, or public decisions.
Example
A model supplies a realistic-looking court citation that does not exist when asked to support a legal argument.
Common misconception
A hallucination is not necessarily a deliberate lie or a rare malfunction. It is a possible result of how generative models produce outputs.
Related terms
Sources
- NIST, Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework: Generative Artificial Intelligence Profile (NIST AI 600-1)defines and addresses the closely related risk term “confabulation” for confidently presented false or erroneous generated content.
Learn more
- Apply [[verification|Verification]] before relying on generated claims.