How to get a second opinion on an AI answer
An AI answer that sounds sure is not a checked answer. Put it to two or three other models, sealed, and see in minutes whether they agree and where they split.
When one answer is not enough
A model gives you an answer and it sounds sure. It sounds exactly as sure when it is wrong. For most questions that does not matter. For some it does: a decision that is hard to undo, a subject you cannot judge yourself, an answer you are about to pass on to someone else.
Asking the same model again does not help much. It tends to defend what it said, or to fold as soon as you push. A second opinion has to come from somewhere else.
The quick way: a poll
Use The Council as a poll of other models.
- Under The matter, write the question as you first asked it.
- Seat two or three different models. Different makers are better than two sizes of the same model.
- Set Rounds of debate to zero, and switch off Closing statements and Minutes.
- Leave Sealed openings on, so no model sees another’s answer first.
- Write the Motion as the claim you want tested, for example “The contract clause allows early termination.”
With three models that is six calls: three sealed openings and three votes. The chair then states whether they agreed and gives each member’s score from 0 to 10.
Put the first answer on trial
If you already have an answer and want it checked, make the answer the matter.
- Paste it under The matter, after the question: “Is this answer correct and complete?”
- Give one seat the role “the reviewer who looks for what is wrong or missing”.
- Leave the other seats without a role.
- Add one round of debate, so the reviewer’s objections get answered.
For a long answer or a document, give it to a seat as a reading and choose “Argues against it”. The member studies the text in order to be its sharpest fair critic.
Reading the result
- All on the same side, scores close together. No model raised an objection. That is worth something. It is not proof.
- A split. This is the useful case. The chair lists the positions by side, in each member’s own sentence. The disagreement is usually about one point, and now you know which.
- High scores with hedged sentences. Read the sentences. A member that votes for and then lists three conditions has not agreed with you yet.
What a second opinion cannot do
- It cannot check a fact none of them has. Models trained on similar text can share the same gap. If the answer rests on a number, a date, a law or a citation, look it up.
- It does not replace a professional. For a medical, legal or financial decision, several models agreeing is a reason to ask a better question of a person who is accountable for the answer. It is not that person.
- It is not independent of you. The models answer the question as you worded it. If the wording leans, so will they. Try the motion the other way round and see whether they still agree.
Ask for a second opinion or read how to tell whether AI models really agree.
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