TechnologyJuly 17, 2026
confabulation
/kənˌfæb.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/
Definition
A technical term for when an AI system produces confident but false or fabricated information as if it were factual.
Etymology
Derived from the Latin 'confabulari,' meaning 'to converse together.' In modern usage, it evolved from a psychological term for memory errors into a common technical term for AI output errors.
In the news
The article mentions confabulations as a specific risk area that third-party testers evaluate within AI assurance sandboxes to ensure model reliability. Managing these errors is a key part of setting functional safety standards for AI systems.
New tools for mapping a fragmented AI governance landscape
Read the full article ↗Brookings