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Checking AI output interview questions

Interview questions on checking AI output: short warm-ups, then what each harder question tests, the first step of a good answer and its follow-ups.

9 questions: 3 warm-ups and 6 with model answers · Levels: Fresher to senior

Warm-up questions

Short questions with short answers, each answered in full.

Fresher to mid

What is lateral reading, and why do fact-checkers use it?

Answered in the lesson A risk-based routine for checking AI
Fresher to mid

How do you check that a DOI in a reference is real and belongs to the cited work?

Answered in the lesson Checking citations, quotes and numbers
Fresher to mid

How does an AI search answer differ from a list of search results, and what does that mean for checking it?

Answered in the lesson AI search and deep-research tools

Questions with model answers

What each question tests, the first step of a good answer and the follow-ups to expect.

Fresher to mid

Your manager wants to send a press note, drafted with an AI tool, to local newspapers in an hour. It gives figures for a new scheme and quotes the director. How would you check it in the time you have?
What it tests

Rating stakes, triaging claims, checking figures and quotes against primary sources, and keeping a log under time pressure.

First step

Split the note into claims and mark the ones a reader would act on or repeat: amounts, dates, eligibility rules and the director's quote. Open the scheme's own order and the director's actual statement, check those claims first, and write each result in a short log.
Follow-ups
- One figure cannot be found in any official document. What do you do?
- The director says the quote "sounds like" her. Is that enough?
- How would you make the next press note faster to check?
From the lesson A risk-based routine for checking AI
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In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Mid to senior

A colleague says checking AI drafts takes longer than writing them, so the team should stop checking routine work. How would you design a checking routine for the team that fits the stakes?
What it tests

Matching effort to stakes, defining levels and triggers, using primary sources and logs, and measuring what checking costs and catches.

First step

Sort the team's AI-assisted work into kinds by what a mistake would cost and who acts on it. Give each kind a level: a read-through, a spot-check of the claims people act on, or claim-by-claim checks against primary sources, with a short log at the top level.
Follow-ups
- How would you show that the routine is worth its time?
- A spot-checked report later turns out to contain a wrong figure. What changes?
- How do you stop people from skipping the log when they are busy?
From the lesson A risk-based routine for checking AI
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Mid to senior

A board paper drafted with an AI tool has 12 references and goes to the board tomorrow. You have one afternoon. How do you check the references, and what do you tell the author about the ones that fail?
What it tests

Checking existence with DOIs and official sites, checking support and quotes, triaging by what the paper relies on, and reporting failures constructively.

First step

List which claims of the paper each reference carries, and start with the references behind its recommendations and figures. For each one, resolve the DOI or find the law or report on its official site, compare the record with the citation, then read the passage the claim rests on and check every quote word for word.
Follow-ups
- Three references have no DOI. How do you check them?
- One real paper is cited for a stronger claim than it makes. What do you write to the author?
- How would you stop this happening on the next paper?
From the lesson Checking citations, quotes and numbers
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

A press release drafted with an AI tool says the state's share of a project rose to 61.5 per cent and gives the amounts in lakh and crore. How would you check its numbers before it goes out?
What it tests

Recomputing figures from their inputs, unit conversion between Indian and international grouping, shares and percentage points, and tracing errors that carry forward.

First step

Find the inputs the release starts from, the sanctioned amounts in the official order, and redo every figure from them in a spreadsheet: each conversion, the total, each share and each change, writing down the working so that someone else can follow it.
Follow-ups
- The total is wrong but the share is right for that total. What does that tell you?
- The release says spending rose "by 1 per cent". What would you check?
- How do you present amounts so that readers outside India understand them?
From the lesson Checking citations, quotes and numbers
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Mid to senior

Your manager forwards a 30-page report from an AI deep-research tool that recommends one of two software suppliers, and wants a decision by Friday. How do you decide how far to trust the report?
What it tests

Auditing citations behind a recommendation, spotting stale and copied sources, sample checks with their limits, and going to primary sources before a decision.

First step

Find the claims the recommendation rests on, such as prices, features, security certifications and customer numbers, and check every footnote behind them: does the page say it, how old is it, is it the supplier's own document or a copy? Then check a random handful of the other footnotes.
Follow-ups
- Two of the ten footnotes you sampled fail. What now?
- The report cites the suppliers' own marketing pages for most claims. Is that a problem?
- What should a good report on this question have cited?
From the lesson AI search and deep-research tools
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

Your team answers customers' questions about government fees and rules with an AI search tool. Last week a customer was quoted an outdated fee. What do you change in how the team works?
What it tests

Knowing why AI search returns stale figures, sending fee and rule questions to primary sources, and building a habit of citing and dating the source.

First step

Trace the slip: which page the answer cited, how old it was, and whether a newer official page gave the current fee. Then set a rule that fees, dates and eligibility are always confirmed on the issuing body's own page, which is linked in the reply to the customer.
Follow-ups
- Staff say opening the official site takes too long. What do you suggest?
- The official page itself looks out of date. What then?
- How would you check that the new rule is being followed?
From the lesson AI search and deep-research tools
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes

All AI Literacy & Prompting interview questions · The AI Literacy & Prompting track

Warm-up questions

What is lateral reading, and why do fact-checkers use it?

How do you check that a DOI in a reference is real and belongs to the cited work?

How does an AI search answer differ from a list of search results, and what does that mean for checking it?

Questions with model answers

Your manager wants to send a press note, drafted with an AI tool, to local newspapers in an hour. It gives figures for a new scheme and quotes the director. How would you check it in the time you have?

A colleague says checking AI drafts takes longer than writing them, so the team should stop checking routine work. How would you design a checking routine for the team that fits the stakes?

A board paper drafted with an AI tool has 12 references and goes to the board tomorrow. You have one afternoon. How do you check the references, and what do you tell the author about the ones that fail?

A press release drafted with an AI tool says the state's share of a project rose to 61.5 per cent and gives the amounts in lakh and crore. How would you check its numbers before it goes out?

Your manager forwards a 30-page report from an AI deep-research tool that recommends one of two software suppliers, and wants a decision by Friday. How do you decide how far to trust the report?

Your team answers customers' questions about government fees and rules with an AI search tool. Last week a customer was quoted an outdated fee. What do you change in how the team works?