How to know if you can trust an AI’s answer to your question

One Google response asked for my medical history. Another answered a personal health question without asking who I was. Both replies came across as authoritative advice.

By: Leo S. Lo, University of Virginia, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: September 18, 2026

Words: 1,117

Last Updated: 4 hours, 27 minutes ago

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By Leo S. Lo, University of Virginia

I recently typed a simple question into Google search: How much screen time is too much for teenagers? Instead of presenting links, as Google had been doing for many years, it gave me an AI-generated answer. The artificial intelligence agent cited a number, then complicated that reply, noting that quality and balance of time could matter more than the number of hours, and that “too much” time could depend …

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