Review Epistemic Humility

Epistemic humility is the disciplined recognition that one's knowledge and reasoning are limited and fallible, paired with a willingness to revise confidence or conclusions when better evidence appears.

It means knowing that you can be wrong without pretending that you know nothing. You state what the evidence supports, what remains uncertain, and what could change your mind.

AI tools can produce persuasive answers without reliable access to truth. Epistemic humility encourages verification, proportionate confidence, and correction instead of treating fluency or authority as proof.

An analyst says, “The current records support option A, but two departments have not reported yet. Their data could change this recommendation.” The analyst still makes a usable judgment while naming its boundary.

Epistemic humility is not chronic self-doubt, indecision, or equal skepticism toward every claim. Confidence can be strong when evidence is strong; humility keeps that confidence responsive to limits and new information.

Hold conclusions firmly enough to use and loosely enough to revise.

* [[confidence-vs-correctness|Confidence vs. Correctness]] * [[calibration|Calibration]] * [[verification|Verification]] * [[confirmation-bias|Confirmation Bias]]

* [Elizabeth J. Krumrei-Mancuso and colleagues, “Predictors and Consequences of Intellectual Humility”](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9244574/) — a research review of recognizing limits in one's knowledge and the consequences of that stance. * [Mark R. Leary and colleagues, “Intellectual Humility: An Old Problem in a New Psychological Perspective”](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10535625/) — a review of intellectual humility as awareness that beliefs may be fallible.

* [RS AI Learning Lab, “Designing Systems That Can Admit They Are Wrong”](../../../../modules/designing-systems-that-can-admit-they-are-wrong/module.md) * [RS AI Learning Lab, “When the Bot Sounds Right but Is Not”](../../../../modules/when-the-bot-sounds-right-but-is-not/module.md)