Edible wild mushroom identification book written by AI

[NiHaoMike]

https://www.404media.co/ai-generated-mushroom-foraging-books-amazon/

A genre of AI-generated books on Amazon is scaring foragers and mycologists: cookbooks and identification guides for mushrooms aimed at beginners.

Amazon has an AI-generated books problem that’s been documented by journalists for months. Many of these books are obviously gibberish designed to make money. But experts say that AI-generated foraging books, specifically, could actually kill people if they eat the wrong mushroom because a guidebook written by an AI prompt said it was safe.

The New York Mycological Society (NYMS) warned on social media that the proliferation of AI-generated foraging books could “mean life or death.”

[helius]

Amazon selling scam books is nothing new; it has been going on for decades. Many of them actually boast "Quality content by wikipedia articles!"
This kind of "shovelware" became widespread in the 1990s as CD-ROM publishing capacity outstripped marketable content. That era saw the growth of "Freeware" CDs, where the publisher could keep 100% of the profits after manufacturing cost, without paying any author royalties. Linux CD-ROMs eventually became part of that sector.

[jpanhalt]

We all know, most mushrooms are safe.  Unfortunately those that aren't are very bad and are very similar to safe ones.  The liver damage is disastrous. The head of the mycology laboratory (mushroom) at Mayo Clinic (circa 1970 -- 1990's) absolutely refused to eat any wild mushrooms.  You would trust an Amazon/AI identification?  Darwin had a point.

[SiliconWizard]

Wonder what could go wrong.

[BrokenYugo]

Yet another new and exciting dumb way to die.

[Stray Electron]

Wonder what could go wrong.

   My first thought as well!

[TimFox]

Before AI, I was suckered into buying some "technical" books on Amazon that turned out to be just copy-and-paste from Wikipedia and other internet sources, collated into a paperback.
However, at least the measly technical information was legitimate.

[DavidAlfa]

Following:
- Poisonous mushrooms treatment by AI.
- Human authopsy by AI.
- Criminal defense by AI (Representing itself).
- AI found guilty, sentenced to unplugging.

[Zero999]

AI written books definitely have their place. A bot can certainly write a better book on race, gender, feminism etc. than most activists can. I'm tempted to have a go myself. I wonder how much money I could make if I identify as a trans, non-binary muslim and get AI to write a book about my lived experiance?

[Gyro]

... and so the AI overthrow of the human race gains pace! Why start creating expensive Cyborgs yet when you can thin our (more foolish / adventurous?) numbers with poisonous fungi!

[DavidAlfa]

It'll be our fault, we're ignoring all the signals we were warned about in the 80s, first Boston Dynamics, now AI.
Skynet and Schwarzenegger are the next, or maybe the Replicants.
I don't mind Skynet, but by no way I'm getting hunted by a barbarian with a rrreally tthickk acccentt 

[tggzzz]

Following:
- Poisonous mushrooms treatment by AI.
- Human authopsy by AI.
- Criminal defense by AI (Representing itself).
- AI found guilty, sentenced to unplugging.

Some of that has already happened...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65735769 and many many other places

A New York lawyer is facing a court hearing of his own after his firm used AI tool ChatGPT for legal research.

A judge said the court was faced with an "unprecedented circumstance" after a filing was found to reference example legal cases that did not exist.
...
"Six of the submitted cases appear to be bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations," Judge Castel wrote in an order demanding the man's legal team explain itself.

"Is varghese a real case," reads one message, referencing Varghese v. China Southern Airlines Co Ltd, one of the cases that no other lawyer could find.

ChatGPT responds that yes, it is - prompting "S" to ask: "What is your source".

After "double checking", ChatGPT responds again that the case is real and can be found on legal reference databases such as LexisNexis and Westlaw.

[magic]

from Wikipedia and other internet sources

legitimate

What could possibly go wrong?


Okay, it's a notch above ChatGPT output, I give 'em that.

[madires]

If you're interested in wild mushrooms ask an experienced picker to show you the edible ones and how to identify them. A book can help but you shouldn't rely on it. For example, one of the most common types are the wild relatives of the white mushroom. And they are also the hardest to identify. Even experts struggle. They can be anything from tasty to poisonous.

[Haenk]

Yet another new and exciting dumb way to die.

Bonus: Get some extra LOLs, when the coroner finds you with this book in your hands in the middle of the woods...

[langwadt]

If you're interested in wild mushrooms ask an experienced picker to show you the edible ones and how to identify them. A book can help but you shouldn't rely on it. For example, one of the most common types are the wild relatives of the white mushroom. And they are also the hardest to identify. Even experts struggle. They can be anything from tasty to poisonous.

and b sure you are in the ight part of the world, afaiu quite few have died whn someone from Asia had cooked with death cap because the an edible mushroom in asia that looks similar

[tggzzz]

Yet another new and exciting dumb way to die.

Bonus: Get some extra LOLs, when the coroner finds you with this book in your hands in the middle of the woods...

It is much slower than that, but at least you have time to say goodbye to your family.

Some fungal toxins give you gangrene (and are used in medicines).

Many fungal toxins make you feel sick after 6 hours, so you go to hospital. Unfortunately by then you have absorbed it all. After 18 hours you start to feel less unwell. And after a few days your liver  gives out and you die.

[jpanhalt]

Many fungal toxins make you feel sick after 6 hours, so you go to hospital. Unfortunately by then you have absorbed it all. After 18 hours you start to feel less unwell. And after a few days your liver  gives out and you die.

Have you ever wondered why squirrels (and probably groundhogs) can eat them with wild abandon?

[Gyro]

It is indeed curious how creatures with, on the face of it, similar digestive systems can suffer from different poison tolerances. Taking dogs as an example, consumption of relatively small quantities of the onion family, and most mushrooms can prove fatal through liver and kidney failure while we can eat them with wild abandon. Other animals have different tolerances and toxic sensitivities. Small differences in Liver enzymes seem to be the cause, but as to why... 

I suppose some of these effects could be down to the onging war between plants and the animals trying to eat them over the milenia probably have something to do with it, but there are some odd combinations and I think most of these wars involve insect pests rather than larger animals.

[jpanhalt]

@Gyro
Absolutely fascinating how toxins, including capsaicin, evolved as survival advantages and were selected. Capsaicin has no effect on birds.  Why?  It is postulated that they don't have molars, so the seeds pass through and propagate; whereas. mammals do, chew the seeds, and inhibit propagation.

Now as for squirrels?

[wraper]

Yet another new and exciting dumb way to die.

Bonus: Get some extra LOLs, when the coroner finds you with this book in your hands in the middle of the woods...

It is much slower than that, but at least you have time to say goodbye to your family.

Some fungal toxins give you gangrene (and are used in medicines).

Many fungal toxins make you feel sick after 6 hours, so you go to hospital. Unfortunately by then you have absorbed it all. After 18 hours you start to feel less unwell. And after a few days your liver  gives out and you die.

And some Cortinarius genus mushrooms have toxic effect appear only after a few days to a few weeks when your kidneys give up and you and doctors will have no clue about the root cause.

[tggzzz]

Yet another new and exciting dumb way to die.

Bonus: Get some extra LOLs, when the coroner finds you with this book in your hands in the middle of the woods...

It is much slower than that, but at least you have time to say goodbye to your family.

Some fungal toxins give you gangrene (and are used in medicines).

Many fungal toxins make you feel sick after 6 hours, so you go to hospital. Unfortunately by then you have absorbed it all. After 18 hours you start to feel less unwell. And after a few days your liver  gives out and you die.

And some Cortinarius genus mushrooms have toxic effect appear only after a few days to a few weeks when your kidneys give up and you and doctors will have no clue about the root cause.

Didn't know that.

It isn't surprising that a Latvian has better information about fungi; foraging for fungi is regarded as a wierd activity, best left to "The Continentals"!

[T3sl4co1l]

If you're interested in wild mushrooms ask an experienced picker to show you the edible ones and how to identify them. A book can help but you shouldn't rely on it. For example, one of the most common types are the wild relatives of the white mushroom. And they are also the hardest to identify. Even experts struggle. They can be anything from tasty to poisonous.

Yeah, it's kind of ironic that the most iconic mushroom of commerce is also one of the most dubious in the wild. Domestication go figure, I suppose.

Personally, I know very little about mushrooms; enough to know not to risk them.  I've positively identified a handful of species of interest, and seen dozens of others either less interesting, or just so hard to describe or identify.  Among those, is actually one such relative: meadow mushroom.  Of which the pink gills are fairly diagnostic, so, there you have it.  Probably the only white thing I'll ever touch is giant puffball; if it's a white cap, just leave it be.

Tim

[Haenk]

It isn't surprising that a Latvian has better information about fungi; foraging for fungi is regarded as a wierd activity, best left to "The Continentals"!

My father knows them fairly well - however there is not much to gather these days. Back then (when I was a kid) we ran around on the farmland in the village (northern Germany) and collected heaps of mushrooms. While the farmland is still there and is still the same, there are no mushrooms. I wonder if they have been killed by the plentiful use of fungizides for farming crops.

However we noticed the same in Denmark. While the forests had plenty of fungi some decades ago, they are pretty rare now. Which is a shame.

[wraper]

While the farmland is still there and is still the same, there are no mushrooms. I wonder if they have been killed by the plentiful use of fungizides for farming crops.

However we noticed the same in Denmark. While the forests had plenty of fungi some decades ago, they are pretty rare now. Which is a shame.

As trees age their mycorrhizal partner fungi change and not nearly all of them form a fruiting body you'd consider mushrooms. So it's not necessarily have anything to do with human activity.
This year I found Aureoboletus projectellus which recently arrived from North America and now quickly spreading through Europe.


Here is a giant puffball I found this summer.


And here are some more normal mushrooms I pick.