Mushrooms are not only delicious additions to various dishes but also pack a powerful nutritional punch. Low in calories and fat, mushrooms are a great option for those looking to manage their weight. Unfortunately, that’s just one side of the story as some fungi such as mushrooms are known to be extremely dangerous, with some even life-threatening as well if consumed. The point is you have to have a clear understanding of the harmless fungi types from the ones that can be dangerous for human consumption.
Now, a book can be a nice way to get acquainted with mushrooms. At least, you will be able to pick up identification skills to single out the harmless types from the harmful ones. Unfortunately, the recent proliferation of several books on the topic purportedly written by AI tools has only made things all the more difficult. This prompted the New York Mycological Society to let out a warning against blindly following such books stating this can even mean the difference between life and death.
“There are hundreds of poisonous fungi in North America and several that are deadly,” said Sigrid Jakob, president of the New York Mycological Society, in an interview with 404 Media. “They can look similar to popular edible species. A poor description in a book can mislead someone to eat a poisonous mushroom.”
However, what is concerning is the presence of numerous such titles on Amazon each claiming to provide you with a sound understanding of fungi. The website decrypt.co listed several such suspect titles, which include The Ultimate Mushroom Books Field Guide of the Southwest, or the Wild Mushroom Cookbook For Beginner. Interestingly, both the titles seem to have been removed which is a good thing considering that the information it contained was largely inaccurate and even fictitious. This, when it can take years to do proper research and then write a book.
It is not known though if there has been any instance of anyone suffering any adverse reaction from consuming the wrong mushroom after following any such AI-written books. Nonetheless, it is still a dangerous trend given that the stakes are as high as someone’s life. The risks are even higher for the children or the senior citizens. What is even more dangerous is that there is practically no way one can make out such books to have been written by AI tools that haven’t been adequately proofread. Hence, they can be of considerable danger to the unsuspecting readers.
Maybe with the advent of AI tools such as ChatGPT, we now need a tool that can accurately identify content written by humans from machine-written ones.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
