---
title: "Hallucination"
description: "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…"
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/hallucination
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-24
---

# Hallucination

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](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/incidents#ai-specific-failure-modes); [ch. 11, Predictive versus generative](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/ai-defined#predictive-versus-generative)
- Chapters: [ch. 11, AI Defined](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/ai-defined) · [ch. 17, Incidents](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/incidents)
- Contrast with: [Regurgitation](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/regurgitation)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-hallucination

## Sources

[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)