The Epistemic Mirage of Modern-Day AI Hallucination and the Philosophical Concept of Naive Realism
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) April 10, 2026 Bhanu Bhanu Bhakta Banjade, Diya Diya Khadka, Manoj Shakya
AI hallucinations—where large language models confidently produce plausible but false information—are not merely technical glitches but arise from the interaction between machine architecture and human cognitive biases. This paper introduces the concept of the Epistemic Mirage, where users subconsciously interpret statistically generated language as reliable knowledge. Drawing on philosophy of perception, cognitive psychology, and AI, it argues that naive realism, automation bias, and the Extended Mind Thesis create an illusion of certainty despite the model lacking genuine understanding. The study proposes a multi-layer framework linking transformer computation, interface design, and human cognition, and suggests human-centered interface interventions that introduce deliberate epistemic friction to improve critical evaluation of AI outputs.