AI is a good tool but should not be treated as fi nal authority

FROM THE GRF

by Marcelo Mario

GRF IT Director

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be an extremely useful tool. It can help residents understand complicated issues, summarize documents, identify questions to ask, and point us toward potentially relevant information.

But AI is not the final authority— and it should never be treated as one. An AI-generated answer is not proof that something is true simply because it is confident, detailed, or sounds authoritative. AI can misunderstand a question, accept an incorrect premise, rely on incomplete information, or make an error while presenting its answer convincingly.

There is another issue that is important to understand: AI systems learn from large amounts of information, and the information available to them can contain mistakes, biases, opinions ºand conflicting accounts. Depending on how data is collected and used to improve future models, information provided by users can potentially contribute to what later models learn.

This creates a potential feedback problem: A resident makes an inaccurate claim. AI accepts or repeats the claim. Another resident sees the AI-generated answer and assumes it is verifi ed. That resident repeats the claim to AI or others. Similar information can become part of the broader pool of material surrounding the subject.

That does not mean that AI simply stores every conversation and then repeats it to the next person. Nor does it mean that every answer about GRF has been influenced by Leisure World residents.

It means that people should not automatically assume that AI-generated information is an independent, objective measurement of what is true.

This is particularly important with GRF, the Mutuals, assessments, rules, elections, finances and California law. These matters should ultimately be determined by the actual governing documents, statutes, court decisions, financial records, official records, or other reliable primary sources—not by an AI-generated answer.

Verify the AI Answer When AI gives you an important answer, don't stop with the answer. Ask:

• What is the source for this statement?

• Can I read the original document myself?

• Does the cited source actually say what AI claims it says?

• Is this a documented fact, an interpretation, an allegation, or an assumption?

• What information might contradict this answer?

• Does the source actually apply to my Mutual or situation?

• Can I independently confi rm this from another reliable source?

Most importantly, “AI said it” is not evidence. And if several residents tell you, “AI says this is true,” that still isn't independent verification. Multiple people repeating an AI-generated claim does not turn the claim into a fact. AI can help people find, understand, question and evaluate information—not replace personal judgment or responsibility to verify important facts. The rule is simple: Use AI. Question AI. Verify AI. And when it really matters: Go to the source.