Avoid this
- Assuming AI is correct because it sounds confident
- Testing only one prompt
- Using weak sources to fact-check
High school project idea · Technology & AI
Catch AI Hallucinating
Test AI answers, find mistakes, and create a guide for using AI responsibly.
The smartest AI users know when not to trust AI.
Original Compass project by Davisville LabsReviewed August 2026Goal real work, evidence, and reflectionEditorial standards →
Why this project matters
Learn by doing something real.
AI can sound confident even when it is wrong. This project helps students become careful AI users by testing claims, comparing responses, checking sources, identifying failure patterns, and learning when human judgment matters most. Instead of trusting AI blindly, students learn how to evaluate it.
What you will create
Your project plan
Use these deliverables as milestones for Catch AI Hallucinating. Adapt the details to your interests, available time, and real-world opportunities.
- 01
AI Reliability Question
Choose one topic or task where AI might make mistakes and explain what you want to test.
- 02
Prompt Test Set
Create a set of prompts that ask AI to explain, summarize, compare, cite, calculate, or make claims about the topic.
- 03
Fact-Checking Log
Compare AI responses with credible sources and document accurate claims, mistakes, missing context, and uncertainty.
- 04
Hallucination Pattern Report
Identify patterns in where AI struggled, such as fake details, weak citations, overconfidence, outdated information, or oversimplification.
- 05
Responsible AI Guide
Publish a portfolio-ready guide or case study explaining how students can use AI more carefully, verify claims, and know when to slow down.
Make the work stronger
What separates a finished project from a meaningful one?
For Catch AI Hallucinating, use these checkpoints to protect the quality of the work without turning the project into a performance for admissions.
Evidence that it is working
- A topic or task was selected
- Multiple AI prompts were tested
- Responses were checked against credible sources
If you want to go further
- Compare two different AI tools on the same prompts
- Test whether better prompts reduce mistakes
Skills you can build
Capabilities that travel beyond this project.
Source EvaluationDigital JudgmentAnalytical ThinkingTechnology EthicsEvidence-Based Reasoning
College application value
Use the project as evidence, not decoration.
Demonstrates curiosity, analytical thinking, digital literacy, research ability, responsibility, and the ability to evaluate emerging technology thoughtfully.
Intellectual CuriosityCritical ThinkingResearch AbilityResponsibilityDigital Literacy
The goal of Catch AI Hallucinating is not to manufacture an impressive activity. Do real work, keep evidence of the process, and reflect honestly on what changed.
Related college majors
Which fields connect to this work?
Use Catch AI Hallucinating as a clue, then open a related major guide to compare coursework, career directions, reality checks, and other ways to test the field.
Major guide
Artificial Intelligence
Learn how intelligent systems learn, reason, generate, perceive, and interact with people, then decide where human judgment still matters most.
Major guide
Cybersecurity
Learn to think like both a defender and an attacker while protecting systems, identities, networks, and information people depend on.
How this guide was made
Read editorial standards →Catch AI Hallucinating is an original Compass educational starting point designed around real work, visible evidence, feedback, and reflection. It is not an admissions guarantee.
Ready to build it?
Try this project in Compass