Confabulazione May 2026

(confabulation) is the production of fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world, without the conscious intention to deceive. Often referred to as "honest lying," the individual believes these memories are entirely accurate even when presented with contradictory evidence. Core Psychological and Clinical Features

Confabulation is distinct from intentional lying because the person is unaware that the information is false. Confabulazione

: General human memory is subject to factors like suggestion and misinformation, which can lead to "false memory syndrome," a related but distinct phenomenon where someone recalls events that never happened. : General human memory is subject to factors

In the field of computer science, "confabulation" is increasingly preferred over "hallucination" to describe errors made by Large Language Models (LLMs). Researchers have proposed several theories to explain why

: Beyond a memory error, it can serve critical psychological functions such as maintaining self-coherence (a stable self-narrative) and self-monitoring in relation to the world.

Researchers have proposed several theories to explain why the brain "fills in the gaps" with false data:

: Proponents of this nomenclature argue that "hallucination" implies a sensory experience the model lacks, whereas "confabulation" more accurately describes the generation of plausible but incorrect narrative text. Theoretical Perspectives