It is always critical to evaluate an information source, no matter where it is coming from. Sources found in the library catalog, in a Google search, or through a chatbot, must all be evaluated before they are trusted and used to fill an information need. Failure to evaluate a source could reduce the credibility of your own argument or even lead to cases of misinformation and disinformation sharing. Mis- and disinformation are defined by the American Psychological Association (APA) as:
To combat this risk, all information sources should be evaluated before used as a trusted source. While faculty members have experience with this process, students can sometimes struggle to evaluate even an academic source. This is why in some occasions, Milne Librarians share with students criteria created by other scholars to teach about source evaluation.
While these criteria are important to evaluating traditional sources of information, the world of AI and chatbots can complicate this process. Therefore, the ROBOT Test: Reliability, Objective, Bias, Ownership, and Type (Hervieux and Wheatley, 2020) has been suggested to raise some more relevant questions to evaluating information about AI.
Main take away here is, no matter where you are getting your information, always stop, think, and evaluate a source before you trust it and use it for your own information need.
If you have any additional questions about evaluating sources, through AI or traditional pathways, contact a Milne Librarian!