Citation: Pritchard, D. (2026). Generative AI is untrustworthy. Synthese, 208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-026-05755-y.

Abstract: Our reliance on the new wave of generative AI has increased exponentially in the last few years, with little sign of abating. This raises the natural question of whether we should trust this technology as a source of information. Drawing on the epistemology of trust, it is argued that generative AI does not meet the conditions for being a trustworthy source of information. In particular, it is argued that generative AI is untrustworthy because it is an unsafe source of information. This, in turn, entails that trusting generative AI as a source of information is not a route to knowledge.