AI & Digital Skills · AI Safety & Judgement

When not to rely on AI

AI can be a helpful starting point, but some decisions need a qualified person, an official source, or your own judgement.

Learn

Step by step

  1. High-stakes decisions. Health, legal, tax, immigration and safety questions: use AI only to prepare questions for a professional.
  2. Current information. Prices, opening times, laws and news change. Check the live official source.
  3. Personal or confidential data. If you would not email it to a stranger, do not paste it into an unapproved tool.
  4. Judgement about people. Hiring, grading or disciplinary decisions should not rest on an AI's assessment.

Worked example

Before and after

Before: Asking an AI: 'Is this mole cancerous?' and relying on the reply.

After: Using AI to write a short list of questions to ask a GP, then booking an appointment.

Why it works: The AI helps you prepare, while the decision stays with a qualified professional.

Try it

Practice tasks

  1. Is it reasonable to use AI to explain what a tenancy deposit scheme is?
  2. Should AI decide which job applicant to reject?

Key terms and next lesson

HallucinationWhen an AI confidently produces information that is false or made up.Training dataThe examples used to teach an AI model — text, images, recordings or records.AI agentAn AI system that can take a series of actions towards a goal, not just answer a single question.Next: How to spot AI scams and deepfakesScammers use AI to write convincing messages and imitate voices. A few habits protect you far better than trying to spot every fake.

Last reviewed: 25 September 2026