The book’s vocabulary

Verification versus evaluation

Check the numbers first, judge the work second — never the reverse.

From The World That Agrees With You2 sections of the book2 related posts

Two separate jobs. Verification checks numbers against sources, locates quotations in the original documents, and identifies claims the evidence does not support. Evaluation then assesses the work against stated criteria.

Asking the same model to reassure you that its previous answer was correct leaves you with another answer to check. The aim is an assessment you can examine, rather than a verdict you can request.

Definition from The World That Agrees With You: Understanding and Managing Sycophancy in the Age of AI, by Timothy O’Brien. © 2026 Timothy O’Brien. All rights reserved.

In the book

See also