Module 4: Safe use at work in NZ and next steps
Check answers before you share
Allow 4 minutes. A hallucination is a convincing output that is wrong. A citation is a starting point for checking, not a guarantee.
NZ Digital Government's guidance is written for the public service. Its advice to verify outputs and keep human oversight is also useful for a small business. It does not impose a new private-sector rule by itself.
Use a five-point check
- Open the cited file or page. Is it the right source and current?
- Check names, dates, figures and arithmetic against the source.
- Separate decisions from proposals. Look for omitted qualifications.
- Confirm the reader may see the information.
- Have the responsible person approve the final output.
When a source is missing or a claim matters, stop and find reliable evidence. Do not ask Copilot to create a citation just to make the answer look complete. A request to use only supplied notes can help, but it cannot guarantee accuracy.
Try it: 2 minutes
These invented source notes say: "Trial the checklist. Draft due Tuesday next week. Review date not agreed. Buddy programme discussed."
A flawed illustrative summary says: "The team approved the checklist and buddy programme. The manager will complete the review on Wednesday next week."
Find two unsupported claims. Then rewrite the summary with a separate open question.
Check: the buddy programme was not approved. No review date was agreed. An open question to ask is, "When will the manager review the draft?"
Done when: you can correct the meaning using the source, without asking AI to grade itself.