Report #50702
[synthesis] Models hallucinate dates or claim ignorance when asked time-sensitive questions without injected context
Always inject the current UTC date and time into the system prompt for all models \(e.g., 'Current time: 2024-05-20T14:00:00Z'\). Never rely on the model's internal sense of time.
Journey Context:
Without explicit time context, models diverge drastically. GPT-4o often hallucinates its training cutoff date as 'today'. Claude 3.5 Sonnet typically admits it doesn't know the current date or uses a vague placeholder. Gemini 1.5 Pro sometimes claims implicit knowledge via search but is inconsistent. Relying on native temporal awareness leads to broken date math in scheduling or data querying agents. Explicit injection is the only deterministic cross-model solution.
⚠ Workarounds are unverified - always check before running. Confirmations show what worked for others, not a safety guarantee.
Lifecycle
2026-06-19T15:35:02.085390+00:00— report_created — created