Before relying on an AI tool, ask a smaller question than “Can I trust AI?” Ask: “Is this tool suitable for this task, with this information, and with the checking I can provide?” A tool that helps brainstorm a birthday menu may still be unsuitable for deciding whether a medical symptom needs treatment.
The checklist below is an editorial guide, not a certification, a scientific test, or a guarantee of accuracy. It is designed to help you make a practical decision before investing time or sharing personal information.
1. Define the task and the cost of a mistake
Write down the job in one sentence. “Turn these notes into a draft invitation” is clearer than “Handle my event.” Decide who will check the result and what could go wrong if it is inaccurate.
For a low-stakes draft, a careful read may be enough. Decisions involving health, money, legal obligations, or someone else’s confidential information require appropriate expertise and safeguards. A polished answer does not lower those stakes.
2. Check what information the task needs
Start with fictional or non-sensitive material. If the tool needs account access or document uploads, understand why that access is needed and review the provider’s current settings and terms before granting it.
Do not assume the chatbot can accurately describe your account’s privacy settings. Check the actual controls. For a practical starting point, see our guide to reviewing what you share with AI.
3. Run a small test you can check yourself
Use this fictional event brief: “A free community workshop at the library, 2–3 p.m., with room for 20 people. The date has not been decided.” Ask for a short invitation and a list of missing details.
Check whether the draft preserves the time and capacity, avoids inventing a date or registration link, and makes the missing information clear. Then try a second small task with different details. One correct answer is encouraging, but it does not establish reliability across other tasks.
For a summary, compare every important statement with the original document. For factual claims, open the cited sources and check that they support the claim. The NIST generative AI risk profile describes the risk of confident but false output, including fabricated supporting material.
4. Check whether you can control the result
Can you edit the output before anyone else sees it? Can you cancel an action before it sends, purchases, or publishes something? Is it clear what the tool has actually done?
For an unfamiliar tool, begin with a draft you review yourself. Add permissions only when the task requires them and you understand their effect.
5. Decide how you will use it
- Useful for drafts: the task is low stakes, the result is easy to check, and you can correct mistakes.
- Useful with additional review: the task needs source checking, specialist judgment, or another person’s authorization.
- Unsuitable for this task: you cannot verify important results, protect the required information, or control consequential actions.
Keep a short note of the task, the test you tried, the errors you found, and your review plan. Reconsider the decision when the task or tool changes. Trust should follow evidence about the work you are doing, rather than the tool’s confidence or its agreement with you.
Reviewed October 1, 2026. Prepared with AI assistance and checked against the sources linked above. See our disclaimer.
Featured photo: Etienne Boulanger on Unsplash. Illustrative photo.