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Check current information and sources

You learn when web searching is necessary, how to evaluate sources, and how to verify an answer step by step.

After this chapterAfter this chapter, you can separate factual claims from advice and follow a verifiable source path for important information.
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5.1

When current information is needed

Let ChatGPT search when date, price, regulations, schedule, or recent events determine the outcome.

Many answers change over time: opening hours, software features, rates, legislation, news, and product availability. Then explicitly ask for current information and sources when web searches are available.

Note the reference date. A source from yesterday may be useful for news, but an old page may be unsuitable for a current rate. Without web searches, ChatGPT must clearly state that current verification is needed outside the conversation.

  • Recognize time-sensitive claims
  • Ask for current web sources
  • Record reference date
  • Check publication and validity
This is how you can use this

Private: train times and travel advice. Study: current statistics. Work: software version. Entrepreneurship: current rate or permit.

Try this prompt
Search for current information about [topic] per [date]. Preferably use official primary sources. Provide the source, publication date, and any validity period for each claim.
Quick knowledge check

Which question is time-sensitive?

Your practical assignment

Choose a time-sensitive question and note in advance which date and type of source are needed.

5.2

Sources in a sensible order

Start with the agency that publishes the rule, data, or product information itself.

A primary source comes as close as possible to the fact: legislator, government agency, research report, manufacturer, or original dataset. A specialist source can help interpret. A blog or social post can provide a clue, but is rarely the best final evidence.

Authority alone is not enough. Check whether the source really concerns your country, date, product version, and situation.

  • Primary source first
  • Professional source for clarification
  • Commercial source may have an interest
  • Check scope of application
This is how you can use this

Belgian regulations: first check with the competent authority or official legislation. Product function: check in the current documentation from the supplier.

Try this prompt
Provide a source plan in three levels for [claim]: primary source, reliable interpretation, and independent verification. Explain what each source does and does not prove.
Quick knowledge check

What is usually the strongest source for a current product function?

Your practical assignment

Take a concrete claim and find the original source behind a summary article.

5.3

Check claim by claim

A source for an answer is only useful if it supports the specific claim.

A long paragraph can contain multiple claims. Split them up and ask which source is needed for each claim. Open the source and look for the relevant passage. A correct URL alongside an incorrect interpretation is still a wrong answer.

Pay attention to numbers, comparisons, causes, conditions, and words like always, never, or average. Those often require separate evidence.

  • Split composite claims
  • Open the source
  • Find the supporting passage
  • Check conditions and exceptions
This is how you can use this

'This scheme applies to all self-employed persons from January' contains at least target group, start date, and universal application as separate claims.

Try this prompt
Split this text into verifiable claims: [text]. Make a table with claim, required source, relevant passage, status, and uncertainty.
Quick knowledge check

What does a source reference not automatically prove?

Your practical assignment

Take an answer with three facts. Open each source and write a short passage for each fact in your own words.

5.4

Check figures and calculations

Check input, units, formula, and rounding separately.

ChatGPT can help calculate, but numbers can be misread or misinterpreted. Provide units and definitions. Ask for a verifiable calculation and perform a second check for important amounts in a spreadsheet or with a reliable calculator.

A visible step-by-step plan is useful but does not prove that the steps are correct. Also check if the chosen formula fits the question.

  • Input
  • Unit
  • Formula
  • Rounding
  • Independent recalculation
This is how you can use this

Private: monthly budget. Study: percentage question. Work: difference between planned and actual. Business: simple margin, not yet full accounting.

Try this prompt
Calculate [question]. Show input with units, formula, intermediate steps, and rounding rule. Then provide an independent check via a second method.
Quick knowledge check

What do you check first with an unfamiliar total?

Your practical assignment

Make a simple calculation, then change a unit and first predict the effect on the result yourself.

5.5

High impact requires a higher bar

Medical, legal, fiscal, and financial decisions require current sources and a qualified expert.

ChatGPT can help understand a letter, prepare questions, or structure options. It should not be the sole basis for decisions when health, rights, taxes, large amounts, or safety are at stake.

The safe route is: formulate the question, collect official information, note uncertainties, and discuss the concrete situation with a qualified professional. Do not unnecessarily share an entire file with AI.

  • Use AI for preparation
  • Search for current official information
  • No unique file as practice material
  • Qualified expert decides together
This is how you can use this

Let ChatGPT organize questions for a doctor, lawyer, accountant, or bank advisor, but ask the professional for situation-specific advice.

Try this prompt
Help me prepare an appointment with [expert]. Organize my questions, mark missing information, and do not give individual advice or diagnosis.
Quick knowledge check

What is a suitable AI role in high impact?

Your practical assignment

Create a questionnaire for an expert around a fictional or anonymized problem. Make sure that the prompt does not request a diagnosis.

5.6

A verification log

Keep track of which claims you checked, against which source, and on which date.

A verification log prevents you from later forgetting why you trusted an answer. Note the claim, source, relevant passage, date of verification, status, and remaining uncertainty.

For recurring information, add a recheck trigger, for example annual rate, new software version, or changed legislation. This way, control becomes a process instead of a one-time check.

  • Claim
  • Source and passage
  • Check date
  • Status
  • Recheck trigger
This is how you can use this

Work: policy information. Study: sources for a report. Entrepreneurship: rates, obligations, and market data.

Try this prompt
Create a verification table with columns: claim, primary source, relevant passage, check date, status, uncertainty, and recheck trigger.
Quick knowledge check

Why is a control date necessary?

Your practical assignment

Fill in a verification log for three claims from an earlier answer.

Chapter assignment

Bring everything together

Check three specific claims from a ChatGPT answer and provide a verification table with source, passage, date, and status.