Generative AI at Work / Unit 4 GAI 097 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Letting the Model Say "I Don't Know"
The idea
The DAIR.AI guide recommends telling the model it may admit it does not know, because without that permission it tends to produce a confident answer anyway.
In practice
Step one: state plainly that I don't know, or not in the source, is an acceptable answer. Step two: where the tool offers a setting for less varied output, use it for factual tasks. Step three: include examples of both answerable and unanswerable questions, with the honest reply shown for each. Step four: treat any unknown it reports as a question to take to a person who knows the answer, not as a failure of the tool.
Where people slip
Permission to say I don't know reduces invention; it does not guarantee the model recognizes the limits of what it knows.
Your place on the trail
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Unlocks
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