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Many mushroom identification and foraging books being sold on Amazon are likely generated by AI with no human authorship. These books could provide dangerous misinformation and potentially lead to deaths if people eat poisonous mushrooms based on the AI's inaccurate descriptions. Two New York mushroom societies have warned about the risks of AI-generated foraging guides. Experts note that safely identifying wild mushrooms requires careful research and experience that an AI system does not have. Amazon has since removed some books flagged as AI-generated, but more may exist. Detecting AI-generated books and authors can be difficult as the systems can fabricate author bios and images. Relying on multiple credible sources, as well as guidance from local foraging groups, is advised for safely pursuing mushroom foraging.

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[-] the_artic_one@programming.dev 125 points 1 year ago

This is a disaster waiting to happen, especially when reputable mushroom books look like this

[-] Dee@lemmings.world 38 points 1 year ago

No doubt, this is the best mushroom book imo. It's on my shelf as I type this.

[-] jarfil@beehaw.org 15 points 1 year ago

Wait... is that a joke? AI mistake, guy with a trumpet for a hand, or weird photo angle? Now I'm confused 😯

[-] Wereduck 49 points 1 year ago

Heh no that's the mushroom forager's bible right there, going back many years, it's assigned reading for mycology students and very reputable. It's funny how much it looks ML generated, but it well predates ML image generation. For reference, he's holding a flesh colored mushroom and a trumpet.

[-] jarfil@beehaw.org 11 points 1 year ago

Oh, now I see it! It's a trombone, half hidden behind his leg, and his fingers under some huge chanterelles... guess that's the joke? What a weird photo.

Never seen that guide, guess it hasn't been translated. We only have some Cantharellus Lutescens around here anyway, which don't look anything like that, so the joke would be lost in translation. Well, TIL.

[-] BlueKittyMeow@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

Could you clarify what the joke is? Is there a pun here that I am missing picking up on?

This entire thing is absolutely fascinating.

[-] jarfil@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

Chanterelles, start with "chant" as in music, have a trumpet-like cap like the trombone cup, the Latin name Cantharellus is derived from "cantharus" meaning a chalice, cup.

It's only missing having a chorus, a mug, and taking the photo in Chanterelle, France:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanterelle,_Cantal

[-] plzExplainNdetail@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 year ago

Are there any other good mushroom bible books to check out?

[-] lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago
[-] FarceMultiplier@lemmy.ca 88 points 1 year ago

That is truly a terrible idea, and Amazon should be liable since they do exercise control over what they sell (which I know, because I have two books for sale there).

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[-] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 35 points 1 year ago

using amazon for books is like using aol for internet access

[-] somedude@lemmy.ninja 6 points 1 year ago

not arguing, but what do you use instead (other than your local book store)?

[-] nocturne213@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago
[-] gullible@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

Is there a way to see specific reviews of sellers or is it strictly a star system? I love the site design, it doesn’t e n d l e s s l y dick around with you like amazon’s current setup.

[-] nocturne213@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

I do not recall, i have not used it much since i got my college textbooks in 08.

[-] frog@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago

Ooooh, thanks for this! They have a UK site too, and they have second-hand books. I already did most of my college textbook shopping on AbeBooks (owned by Amazon), but if Alibris have the other ones I need, phase 2 will happen there.

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[-] lowleveldata@programming.dev 4 points 1 year ago

What do you mean? Kindle store is not bad at all

[-] dax@beehaw.org 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

yeah, where else do you expect self published authors to make their mark?

I've extremely enjoyed the self-pub route so many authors can take these days. Some of my favorite series come from people who didn't even want to bother with the traditional publisher and I am so much happier for it.

So I mean, if you have some alternatives for self published authors to reach a broad audience with a minimum of fuss, that's great. I'm just not seeing a valid replacement, myself.

edit: that said, some are dumpster fires in a pit of eternal despair. but I'm a big boy, I can figure that out for myself.

[-] greenskye@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

I very much appreciate the self publishing that's been possible, but I do know that the way they enable this is pretty exploitive and I think we still have massive room for improvement. My understanding is that it relies heavily on exclusivity agreements to force the majority of players onto their platform. I think we would've seen the Amazon self publishing business smacked down by anti trust lawsuits ages ago if we lived in a more sane timeline.

Despite the exploitation going on now, it's still better than the old monopolies the traditional publishers held, but I hope we can eventually see self publishing flourish outside of the Amazon ecosystem

yeah thats on me. im old and remember them for selling physical crap forever ago, plus i forgot people pay for digital stuff.. again, not my thing.

[-] lowleveldata@programming.dev 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Oh grandpa, digital stuff is great! You can read any of those hundreds of books on the go (given you didn't forget your glasses, that is)! You should definitely try it next time you go fishing!

[-] StringTheory@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago

If you forget your glasses all ya gotta do is enlarge the text size. Digital is pretty groovy.

[-] RobotToaster@infosec.pub 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

digital stuff is great!

Until they pull a 1984 and delete your copy of 1984

[-] lowleveldata@programming.dev 3 points 1 year ago

I mean, do you really want to miss out on such a real life dystopian experience?

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[-] aperson@beehaw.org 31 points 1 year ago

Yikes, and I thought the AI generated children's books were bad for society.

[-] explodicle@local106.com 5 points 1 year ago

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but why?

[-] grysbok@lemmy.sdf.org 31 points 1 year ago

Robert Evans wrote a post on it and did multiple podcast episodes.

The TL&DR is that AI-generated children's books are crap, without a coherent storyline or any literary niceties like "foreshadowing" and "beginning middle and end". Kids are still learning what stories look like, so if you hand them AI-generated stuff they might know it's unsatisfying, but they can't put into words why their books are wrong.

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 16 points 1 year ago

Sadly, it's another hustle. If you spend enough time on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TIkTok, you may see ads for "business opportunities," which include a bunch of ways to spend lots of wasted time on things that will supposedly give you "passive income". A lot of them consist of stringing together crude tools to supposedly run a business without actually running anything. For instance, you can learn how to set up a business on Amazon where someone else manufactures your products and Amazon stores and ships them, and supposedly you're now a business owner. Obviously, it doesn't work.

One version of this is becoming a "published author" by having stuff written either by ChatGPT or what are essentially slaves in the global south, and then self-publishing it as ebooks on Amazon.

Again, there's no real money or sense of accomplishment, but people are desperate, and so people try it.

[-] jarfil@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

there's no real money

No "big" money... but some people have either little income, or live in a country where even a "small" amount of money can go a long way.

[-] rayyyy@kbin.social 24 points 1 year ago

This is my experience so don't rely on it: Most mushrooms won't kill you but some will make you so sick that you wished you died. Even a small bite of the deadly Destroying Angle will most likely not kill you. Only eat a very small amount of a new-to-you mushroom because even safe ones may trigger a fatal allergic reaction, also "safe" Morel mushrooms have killed people who really, really over consumed them.
Get a real "National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms", book and download the "Seek" app for your phone. Find a person who experienced and go slow. NEVER get careless or over confident.

[-] liv@beehaw.org 20 points 1 year ago
[-] fidodo@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago

Most mushrooms won't kill you

That's not very reassuring

[-] liv@beehaw.org 16 points 1 year ago

I don't think it was meant to be reassuring. @rayyyy@kbin.social is right, don't mess around with fungi. You can get irreversible kidney damage.

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[-] marco@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago

You can eat any mushroom.... At least once.

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[-] wols@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

As always, the dose makes the poison.
A common scenario is people picking the wrong species and then not just eating a small bite, but cooking an entire meal and eating that.

A small bite may not kill you, but just one mushroom (50g) can be enough to do it.

There are some toxic mfs out there and they can be mistaken for edible lookalikes by inexperienced foragers.

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[-] Fizz@lemmy.nz 4 points 1 year ago

People need to stop using zeroGPT it does not accurately detect ai generated text.

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[-] MrTHXcertified@lemmy.sdf.org 20 points 1 year ago

Amazon won’t care because nobody will hold Amazon accountable.

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this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
309 points (100.0% liked)

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