AI Governance Engineer
GitHub

Hallucination

By Updated

Generative output that is stated confidently but is false or unsupported by its sources; NIST's generative AI profile calls it confabulation and lists it among the risks generative AI creates or worsens 1. Groundedness and citation checks are the usual evidence against it.

Developed in
ch. 17, AI-specific failure modes
ch. 11, Predictive versus generative
Chapters
ch. 11, AI Defined · ch. 17, Incidents
Contrast with
Regurgitation
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

7 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Hallucination: mentions per chapter10 mentions of the term across 7 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter08 Regulatory Map: 1 mention08 Regulatory Map111 AI Defined: 2 mentions11 AI Defined213 Risk Management: 1 mention13 Risk Management115 Deployment: 1 mention15 Deployment117 Incidents: 2 mentions17 Incidents222 Principles & Standards: 2 mentions22 Principles & Standards223 AI Agents: 1 mention23 AI Agents1No mentions in the other 16 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Hallucination: mentions per chapter10 mentions of the term across 7 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter000102030405060708 Regulatory Map: 1 mention1081011 AI Defined: 2 mentions2111213 Risk Management: 1 mention1131415 Deployment: 1 mention1151617 Incidents: 2 mentions2171819202122 Principles & Standards: 2 mentions22223 AI Agents: 1 mention123Source: the Body of Knowledge v0.5.0
Mentions per chapter How often each chapter names the term, with the chapters the glossary cross-references drawn solid. The longest bar is where to read the term in use; bars spread across many chapters mark a term that runs through the discipline.
Mentions as a table
Mentions of Hallucination per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack0No
05 Patterns0No
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map1No
10 Reading List0No
11 AI Defined2Yes
12 Governance Program0No
13 Risk Management1No
14 Development0No
15 Deployment1No
16 Fairness & XAI0No
17 Incidents2Yes
18 EU AI Act0No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide0No
22 Principles & Standards2No
23 AI Agents1No
Hallucination: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastHallucinationRelated terms (3)Drift · RelatedDriftGenerative AI · RelatedGenerative AIPredictive AI · RelatedPredictive AIContrast with (1)Regurgitation · ContrastRegurgitation
Hallucination: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastRelated terms (3)Drift · RelatedDriftGenerative AI · RelatedGenerative AIPredictive AI · RelatedPredictive AIContrast with (1)Regurgitation · ContrastRegurgitationHallucination
The term's neighbourhood Terms related to this one on solid edges, terms it is often confused with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer. Follow a dashed edge to check the distinction before you use either term.
Neighbourhood as a table
Neighbourhood of Hallucination
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsDriftRelated
Related termsGenerative AIRelated
Related termsPredictive AIRelated
Contrast withRegurgitationContrast
  • Drift

    The gradual divergence of a model's inputs, outputs or performance from its validated baseline over time; a runtime signal that a control or eval must catch.

  • Generative AI

    AI that outputs new content (text, images, audio, video, code) rather than an estimate about something that exists.

  • Predictive AI

    AI that outputs an estimate about something that exists: a score, class or forecast.

Sources

  1. [1] Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework: Generative Artificial Intelligence Profile, NIST AI 600-1 (twelve risks unique to or exacerbated by generative AI; confabulation defined). NIST. 2024-07. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AI.600-1 (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Hallucination. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/hallucination. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026hallucination,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Hallucination}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/hallucination}
}