How to avoid meeting hallucinations

Generative AI transforms the way we work, but its impacts aren’t limited to what it can do. It can also teach us about language and communication.

We typically think of hallucinations as sensory perceptions—like a sound or image—that seem real in the mind but didn’t occur in external reality. In the era of Generative AI,  the word “hallucination” refers to a large language model that produces incorrect or fabricated information.

But hallucinations aren’t just an AI problem, because inaccuracies are an equally common occurrence in human interactions. Most conversations contain hallucinations, and the corporate meeting is a space that is especially prone to that. 

Meetings are often where we tackle the most challenging communication tasks. Balancing priorities, working through clarifying questions, delivering news—these tasks require the tools of real-time responses and nuanced inflection. Meeting hallucinations occur when incorrect assumptions derail conversations. These misunderstandings can lead to circular conversations or meetings that don’t accomplish their goal. These hallucinations are a key piece of the puzzle of our meeting culture. And this is why many despise meetings even though they remain necessary.

The concept of common ground

In my subfield of linguistics—pragmatics—there’s a foundational concept called common ground. During a conversation, common ground refers to the information that all parties have established to be true. If information is in the common ground, you don’t need to restate it.  In my role as a data scientist at AT&T, we don’t feel the need to say things like: “this is an AT&T meeting,” “we are data scientists,” or “this is a work meeting.” However, it’s fair to say that all of those assumptions are in common ground at any given time.

Or do they? The challenge with meeting hallucinations occurs when you have mismatched common ground assumptions. One person’s understanding of what constitutes common ground (e.g., the purpose of the meeting, the goal of the project, the best outcome of the discussion, the role of the meeting participant) doesn’t always match someone else’s. Meeting hallucinations—or mismatched common ground assumptions in meetings—can lead to conflict that diverts the focus. It can also mask the fundamental disagreement, which might not actually be about a specific solution requirement—but the goal of the solution writ large.

Addressing meeting hallucinations will reduce the frequency of meetings, increase productivity in meetings across the board, and perhaps most importantly: will enhance the buy-in to your meetings. Here are some best practices to follow to overcome these subtle, hidden miscommunications:

Reflect on common ground assumptions before a meeting

Preventing meeting hallucinations starts with understanding what is in your own set of common ground assumptions. Before you begin a meeting, think through what you want to achieve. Consider what you believe to be true about the topics you’re discussing. Reflect on whether all parties in the meeting share this belief.

Boldly state ‘the obvious’ at the top of the meeting

No one wants to beat a dead horse. But it’s worth talking through relevant common ground assumptions with other meeting participants. This way, you can avoid unnecessary miscommunication and avoid wasting time. Whether the common ground assumption is about timelines, who owns the work, or the overall goal of a project, take the time to say the obvious part out loud. It might not be obvious to everyone.

Identify possible communication gaps by restating the common ground assumptions

When meeting hallucinations happen, they require you to recognize that a moment of conflict or confusion isn’t always due to the discussion topic. If you feel like a meeting is going south, reset the conversation. You can do this by reestablishing common ground assumptions or flagging statements that seem to introduce a new common ground assumption to the context.

Perspectives based on unrelated previous outcomes, rigid takes on a situation based on specific training, rushing to judgement without all the information—these are common issues that many have with corporate meetings. They’re also core drivers of AI hallucinations, and they are also lurking in our corporate culture. Meeting hallucinations might feel like a strange way to think about meetings. But once you apply it, you’ll find that you’re finally meeting your colleagues where they are. 

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