#heymakwa

[snowgall]

posted by heyMAKWA on twitter, Aug 17, 2023:

i'm not going to link any of them here, for a variety of reasons, but please be aware of what is probably the deadliest AI scam i've ever heard of:

plant and fungi foraging guide books. the authors are invented, their credentials are invented, and their species IDs will kill you

[dduane]

PSA: *Beware* AI-generated fungi guidebooks!!

…Not a phrase I imagined myself typing today. But, via @heyMAKWA on Twitter:

“i'm not going to link any of them here, for a variety of reasons, but please be aware of what is probably the deadliest AI scam i've ever heard of:

“plant and fungi foraging guide books. the authors are invented, their credentials are invented, and their species IDs will kill you.”

…So PLEASE be careful if you run across anything of this kind.

(ETA: Corrected egregious typo in the title. Apologies, as I was [a] in bed [b] typing hurriedly and one-handed on the iPad, and [c] I think its native keyboard may need recalibration, but also [d] I was upset about what I was having to post, because seriously, WTF?!!)

[spaceysoupy]

Hello foraging friends! Don’t know how far this has gotten yet but there is a new and potentially DEADLY scam going on where AI generated foraging/botany/identification books are being sold on sites like Amazon, with mislabeled and misidentified species, including toxic fungi. Much of the content is utter nonsense, filled with grainy black and white photos, and authored by people who do not exist. Afaik the scam was first identified by a friend of mine on twt @heyMAKWA and info has only just started to spread.

Please check the sources of any foraging guide books you are considering purchasing and using! Never consume plants or fungi that you are not 100% sure are safe to eat!

Reddit posts about the issue

https://www.reddit.com/r/foraging/comments/15ur88d/please_please_be_careful/

https://www.reddit.com/r/foraging/comments/15p9b7t/ai_generated_foraging_books/