How to Read a Bold Claim

A 4-lesson mini-course on spotting red flags in headlines, press releases, and social media posts.

Lessons

  1. Identify the concrete prediction. Vague promises are immune to falsification. Look for dates, numbers, and deliverables.
  2. Find the primary source. A press release is not a study. A demo is not a product.
  3. Check the track record. Has this person or company made similar claims before? What happened?
  4. Separate capability from deployment. Working in a lab, a curated video, or one city is not the same as working everywhere.