HallucinationorError
An error is a breakdown: something did not work as intended, and it can be fixed. A hallucination is the model working normally: it produces a plausible continuation, and nothing in its mechanics tells the true apart from the merely credible.
Point by point
| Criterion | Floor 1Floor 1 · The Modela solid block on its own: the prediction machineHallucination | Error |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | A property of the system | A malfunction |
| Can be fixed | No: it is contained and detected | Yes, by fixing the cause |
| Visible signal | None: the same confidence as the truth | Often a message, a code |
| Will go away one day | Not in itself, only through safeguards | Yes, once the fault is fixed |
| Appropriate response | Supply the sources to read, require citations | Fix the code or the configuration |
| Who spots it | Someone who already knows the answer | The system itself, often |
On the ground four situations
A model cites an article of law that does not exist, with a credible number and date.
Floor 1 · The Modela solid block on its own: the prediction machineHallucinationNothing malfunctioned: the reference was rebuilt because it looks like the ones that do exist. That is the mechanism, not a breakdown.
An application returns a blank page because the access key has expired.
ErrorA component stopped working, the cause can be identified and the fix is permanent.
A model confidently states that two plus two make five after being contradicted.
Floor 1 · The Modela solid block on its own: the prediction machineHallucinationThe useful counter-example: this is not a fault in the arithmetic but a consequence of alignment, which taught it to satisfy the person in front of it. The mechanism is unchanged, producing what seems to be expected.
A document search system cites a real source but makes it say the opposite of what it says.
BothThere is hallucination on the content, and a fault in the harness, which selected or split the passage badly. Both can be treated, but not by the same means.
The test that settles it
Ask whether the system reported anything. An error leaves a trace, a code, a log. A hallucination leaves none: it has the same shape as a correct answer.
The trap
Waiting for hallucinations to be “fixed” in a future version. This is not a defect to repair but a property of prediction: what improves is how often it happens and how well it is detected, not the nature of the phenomenon.
Check click your answer
Level 1 · Recognise
What makes a hallucination hard to spot?
Level 2 · Distinguish
What is the right response to a hallucination?
Level 2 · Distinguish
Why speak of a property rather than a defect?