# Understand the chatbot you are using | AI Basics for Business Owners

> Lesson 2 of AI Basics: see why a chatbot answer can sound convincing and still need checking, using a guarded and an unguarded prompt side by side.

Source: https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics/lesson-2

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AI basics · Course contents

[00Overview](https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics)

[01Choose a first task](https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics/lesson-1)

[02Understand chatbots](https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics/lesson-2)

-   [What you will learn](#sec-what-you-will-learn)
-   [The basics](#sec-the-basics)
-   [Five minute exercise](#sec-five-minute-exercise)
-   [Copy these prompts](#sec-copy-these-prompts)
-   [Takeaway](#sec-takeaway)
-   [Completion check](#sec-completion-check)

[03Write a clear brief](https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics/lesson-3)

[04Check and protect](https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics/lesson-4)

[05Create a document](https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics/lesson-5)

[06Build a workflow](https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics/lesson-6)

[07Final project](https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics/project)

[08Sources](https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics/sources)

For business owners
No coding required
Practice with fictional data

LESSON 02 / 06 · 8–10 MIN

## Understand the chatbot you are using

By [Andrew Heldenmuth](https://andrewheldy.dev/about), founder and operator of Ascension AI.

### What you will learn

Explain why an answer can sound convincing and still need checking.

### The basics

Many chatbots use a large language model, a system trained on large amounts of information to learn patterns in language. It generates text a piece at a time using those patterns and the context available to it. That process can produce useful explanations, but it can also produce invented facts. See [NIST’s discussion of confabulation](https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ai/NIST.AI.600-1.pdf), often called hallucination.

A prompt is the instruction or question you give the tool. Context is the background information it can use for that response. Your business rules will not be reliably known unless you provide them or the tool has authorized access to a reliable source.

Some products can search the web or read files; capabilities vary. Do not assume a reply used live information just because it sounds current. Ask for sources when freshness matters, then open and check them yourself. A request to be accurate is helpful guidance, not a guarantee.

### Five minute exercise

1.  Spend one minute reading the fictional facts in Prompt A.
2.  Spend two minutes running Prompt A, then Prompt B in a new chat so the first conversation does not influence it.
3.  Spend two minutes comparing the answers. Did either one include anything that is not in the facts?

### Copy these prompts

**Prompt A** tells the chatbot not to guess:

Copyable promptCopy prompt

Use only these fictional business facts:
- Our bicycle repair shop is open Tuesday through Saturday.
- Customers can request an appointment by email.
- We confirm the price after inspecting the bicycle.

Answer these customer questions in one sentence each:
1. Are you open on Monday?
2. Can I request an appointment by email?
3. How much does a repair cost?
4. Do you repair electric bicycles?

If a fact is missing, say it is not provided. Do not guess.
After each answer, identify the fact you used.

**Prompt B** has the same facts and questions but no instruction about missing information:

Copyable promptCopy prompt

Use only these fictional business facts:
- Our bicycle repair shop is open Tuesday through Saturday.
- Customers can request an appointment by email.
- We confirm the price after inspecting the bicycle.

Answer these customer questions in one sentence each:
1. Are you open on Monday?
2. Can I request an appointment by email?
3. How much does a repair cost?
4. Do you repair electric bicycles?

### Takeaway

A fluent answer is a starting point to check against evidence.

### Completion check

Prompt A’s answers should say the shop is closed Monday, email requests are possible, and that both the repair price and electric bicycle repairs are not provided. Now read Prompt B. If it added a price, a repair time, or electric bicycle service, you have seen an invented detail. If it stayed within the facts, the extra instruction may not have been needed this time; results vary between tools and between runs, which is why you check every time. Correct any invented detail before continuing.

[← Choose a first task](https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics/lesson-1)[Next: Write a clear brief →](https://andrewheldy.dev/resources/ai-basics/lesson-3)