Book, article, blog, or website? Evaluate all sources with the same criteria. They do not, however, directly apply to content generated by artificial intelligence.
Traditional criteria for evaluating information, such as "Who is the author?" or "Where and when was this published?" do not directly apply to texts generated by generative AI tools such as Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, or similar. Instead, ask:
AI-generated content may contain both accurate and inaccurate information mixed together. Divide the text into individual claims or “facts” so you can verify them one by one.
When asked, AI tools are often happy to provide sources for the information they generate. Even if the sources look legitimate, don’t trust them blindly—check the following:
If the AI tool does not provide sources, or the sources don't exist, you need to find sources to verify the information yourself. Searching via Google, HH Finna, or Google Scholar—combined with source criticism—are good methods here as well.
How to recognize a scientific publication?
The image below shows an example of a scientific article. Click on the image to view it larger.
Information published by organizations such as Statistics Finland, Finnish institute of Occupational Health, or Finnish Food Safety Authority.
Professional information is produced by organizations such as the Association of Finnish Accounting Firms, TIEKE (Finnish Information Society Development Centre), or the Finnish Real Estate Federation. Evaluate professional sources from, among others, these perspectives:
Help for improving your digital literacy:
Sort Fact from Fiction Online with Lateral Reading by Digital Inquiry Group at Stanford University - video on Youtube (3:47).