How trustworthy are AI fact checks?

Original publisher’s rating

Two studies conducted this year by the British public broadcaster BBC and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism in the United States found significant shortcomings when it comes to the ability of generative AI chatbots to accurately convey news reporting. In February, the BBC study found that "answers produced by the AI assistants contained significant inaccuracies and distorted content" produced by the organization. When it asked ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini and Perplexity to respond to questions about current news by using BBC articles as sources, it found that 51% of the chatbots' answers had "significant issues of some form." Nineteen percent of answers were found to have added their own factual errors, while 13% of quotes were either altered or not present at all in cited articles. "AI assistants cannot currently be relied upon to provide accurate news and they risk misleading the audience," said Pete Archer, director of the BBC's Generative AI Program.

Reviewed by Deutsche Welle Fact check ↗ · May 17, 2025