Are the fact check results created by ai

Checked on December 20, 2025
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Executive summary

AI is increasingly used to generate or assist fact-check results, but the landscape is mixed: some services produce automated, AI-created verdicts while established fact‑checking organisations generally use AI as an augmenting tool alongside human journalists and editors [1] [2] [3]. Independent evaluations show generative systems can introduce new factual errors, so AI‑only fact checks are not uniformly reliable [4] [5].

1. AI-built fact checkers exist and advertise automated outputs

Commercial products and developer projects explicitly claim to produce automated fact‑checking results using large language models and cross‑referencing APIs; for example, Originality.ai describes an “automated fact‑checker” offering real‑time, automated assessments and reports an accuracy study, positioning its tool as a largely automated service [1]. Similarly, Google’s Gemini API has been used in competition projects to build apps that extract facts, cross‑reference sources, and automatically label claims as accurate, misleading or false [6]. These examples show a class of services where fact‑check results are created, at least in significant part, by AI systems [1] [6].

2. Established fact‑checking organisations use AI as a force multiplier, not a standalone judge

Longstanding fact‑checking groups have integrated AI to speed research, search archives and draft findings, but they emphasise human oversight: Snopes’ FactBot and the Cal Poly–Snopes prototype use retrieval‑augmented generative models to search decades of fact checks and produce citable summaries, with the aim of reducing hallucination while still resting outputs on human‑verified sources [7] [2]. Full Fact reports that it employs machine learning and generative models to scale and translate work, while traditional verification and editorial processes remain central to published fact checks [3].

3. Studies and audits find AI adds its own errors when used alone

Independent reviews find substantial shortcomings when users ask AI assistants to verify news: analyses of chatbots like Grok revealed that a sizable share of AI answers introduced new factual errors or altered quotes, leading researchers to caution that these assistants “cannot currently be relied upon” for accurate news verification without human checking [4]. Academic research also highlights that while AI can help, it can fabricate details or decontextualize material, limiting trust in purely AI‑generated fact checks [5].

4. Practical guidance from libraries and tech vendors stresses human verification

University research guides and corporate how‑tos converge on the same prescription: break down claims, perform lateral reading, trace AI assertions back to original sources and verify citations rather than accepting AI outputs at face value [8] [9] [10]. Microsoft and academic libraries explicitly recommend treating AI outputs as starting points that must be cross‑checked because models can hallucinate, use outdated sources, or misattribute quotes [10] [11].

5. The “part‑of‑the‑problem and part‑of‑the‑solution” paradox

Analyses from EDMO and other observers characterise generative AI as both a tool that can enhance coverage and a vector that amplifies disinformation; the net effect depends on governance, tooling, and whether human fact‑checkers remain in the loop [12]. Detection tools and AI detectors exist, and newsrooms are building bespoke verification systems, but effectiveness varies and resources matter — larger organisations can fund engineers and bespoke tools while smaller teams may lean more on off‑the‑shelf AI [5] [13].

6. Bottom line: some fact‑check results are created by AI, but quality hinges on human oversight

The evidence in reporting and academic work shows a spectrum: from fully automated commercial checkers that present AI‑generated verdicts [1] [6] to legacy fact‑checking organisations that use AI to assist research while retaining human editorial control [2] [3]. Independent audits and expert guidance warn that AI‑only fact checks produce errors at nontrivial rates, so credible verification still requires human review and transparent sourcing [4] [8].

Want to dive deeper?
Which major fact‑checking organisations use AI in their workflows and how do they disclose it?
What studies quantify error rates in AI‑only fact checks and how were they conducted?
How do detection tools differentiate AI‑generated fact checks from human‑produced ones?