I use this AI filter to make every response clearer — here’s what it catches first

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

There was a moment recently when I realized I needed an AI filter. Not the kind of filter that blurs fine lines and imperfections, but one that shines a spotlight on errors and brings them to the forefront of every response.

Not many people know this, but ChatGPT is wrong a quarter of the time. And, those AI Overviews we often rely on heavily for summaries, are also not always accurate.

For a long time, I thought I needed to ask better questions to get a more accurate response. For me, that meant, if an answer was off, I assumed the fix was a sharper prompt, more detail or clearer instructions. I treated ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude like machines that just needed the right input to produce the right output.

What most people (including me) do wrong

I caught myself making the same mistake over and over. I wasn’t blindly trusting AI — but if a response sounded confident, organized and well written, I usually accepted it. It looked fine, so I moved on.

But, "good enough" can lead to a lot of issues, especially in the workplace. For example, a timeline that looks clean, might ignore real constraints or an explanation that seems clear, might gloss over key facts.

None of these appear to be catastrophes at the time, but small missteps can add up. And if you're using AI for producivity, the last thing you want is more work because it messed up.

Most of ChatGPT users treat AI like a slightly magical search engine. They ask a question, get an answer and move on. And while it works most of the time, the approach has a flaw for anything more complex.

AI is optimized for confidence and fluency, not caution. It can easily:

Fill in missing context
Make reasonable assumptions
Smooth over uncertainty
Skip steps in its reasoning

But the issue is, although the answer is clean, it's not necessarily reliable. The issue isn’t that AI is “bad.” It’s that we’re often passive readers of it.

That’s what I wanted to change. My small filter (the thing that changed everything)

Now, every time I get an AI response, I pause for about 10–15 seconds and run it through three simple questions in my head:

What is this assuming?
What might be missing?
What would have to be true for this to be wrong?
Does it need a source or fact check?

To be clear, I don’t always type these into ChatGPT. This isn’t a prompt, it's a mental filter that I apply after I get an answer.

Sometimes the answer sails through. Sometimes it immediately reveals weak spots. Either way, I’m no longer consuming AI passively — I’m evaluating it deliberately.

Why this works so well

man on computer — (Image credit: Future)

This tiny habit does three things:

It slows me down just enough. Not to overthink — just enough to avoid rubber-stamping a polished response.
It surfaces hidden assumptions. AI often assumes things you never said (deadlines, budgets, priorities, constraints). My filter forces me to notice that.
It shifts AI from oracle to thinking partner. Instead of asking, “Is this correct?” I’m asking, “Under what conditions is this correct?”

As AI integrates into our workflow more often, it's important to keep this filter, or one like it in your mental tool because. The filter doesn’t make AI smarter — it makes me a better reader of AI.

Real world examples

Woman on laptop — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

I use this filter naturally now every time I use any chatbot. For example, recently when planning a big project, I asked ChatGPT to help me map out a multi-week timeline. The first version looked beautifully structured. In fact, too beautifully structured to a point I knew it was missing something.

So I ran my filter and asked myself: What is this assuming?

Turns out — a lot. Everything from the chatbot not taking into account how easy it would be to schedule meetings, that everyone would approve my ideas quickly or that I had a dedicated team.

Once I saw those flaws in the response, I adjusted my constraints. The revised plan was far more realistic — and far more usable. The filter saved me from building on shaky ground.

Similarly, I asked Gemini to explain a concept in plain English. And while the explanation was clear, it felt a little too neat.

My filter kicked in: What might be missing?

That question led me to notice a simplification that, while helpful, was technically misleading. I followed up, got a more nuanced version, and actually learned more in the process.

The filter didn’t prove the answer “wrong.” It made it more trustworthy.

Finally, I tested it with Claude to tighten a paragraph. It suggested shorter sentences and cleaner structure — all reasonable. But my filter made me ask: What would have to be true for this to be wrong?

I realized the edit assumed clarity should always beat voice. That wasn’t my goal. I kept the structural improvements, but restored some of my tone.

Instead of blindly accepting AI’s edit, I collaborated with it.

Bottom line

This filter can be used with any AI or chatbot. You don’t need a new tool, setting, or subscription. Just try this the next time you get an important AI answer. Read the response once normally, then ask yourself what might be missing and follow up with a prompt based on what you noticed.

You really don't need to do this every time — only when you're dealing with complext projects or the response feels too generic or completely inaccurate. And remember, this filter has it's limits. It won't eliminate AI errors, you still have to do the critical thinking and fact-checking, even if it means using a prompt like "cite the source."

This small mental filter is now part of every AI conversation I have, and it’s made the biggest difference in my results.

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Amanda Caswell is an award-winning journalist, bestselling YA author, and one of today’s leading voices in AI and technology. A celebrated contributor to various news outlets, her sharp insights and relatable storytelling have earned her a loyal readership. Amanda’s work has been recognized with prestigious honors, including outstanding contribution to media.

Known for her ability to bring clarity to even the most complex topics, Amanda seamlessly blends innovation and creativity, inspiring readers to embrace the power of AI and emerging technologies. As a certified prompt engineer, she continues to push the boundaries of how humans and AI can work together.

Beyond her journalism career, Amanda is a long-distance runner and mom of three. She lives in New Jersey.

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