Summarization agents accept source material at face value, producing summaries that amplify false, misleading, or unsupported claims embedded in the source.
Solution
Before summarizing, apply a structured credibility pre-pass: identify claims in the source, classify each as well-supported, unsupported-assertion, or contradicts-known-facts, then summarize with credibility labels preserved.
Implementation steps
Extract all primary factual claims from source material as a list
For each claim: classify as SUPPORTED (has cited evidence in source), ASSERTED (stated without evidence), or SUSPECT (contradicts external knowledge)
Annotate the summary with credibility indicators: [SUPPORTED], [ASSERTED], [SUSPECT]
For SUSPECT claims: include brief explanation of why they are flagged
Final summary: lead with high-confidence supported claims, separate section for asserted/suspect claims
Examples
–Summarizing marketing copy or press releases
–Condensing op-eds or opinion pieces
–Extracting key claims from vendor documentation
Anti-patterns
–Applying skeptical mode to verified internal documents — wastes compute and adds noise
–Flagging all unverifiable claims as SUSPECT — unverifiability is not falsehood
–Omitting ASSERTED claims from summary — they still represent what the source claims
