Experts are warning foragers to avoid using Google Images to identify mushrooms after the search engine is delivering misleading AI-generated results.
Searches for a number of common edible mushrooms return wildly inaccurate images as the top result, despite these images being flagged as AI-generated.
Foraging experts warn this could lead to dangerous, if not deadly, errors for foragers trying to identify safe mushrooms to eat.
Professor David Hawksworth, a mycologist from the University of Southampton, told MailOnline: ‘This is potentially extremely dangerous.’
However, experts routinely warn that it isn’t safe to pick up and eat mushrooms that we find on the ground – even if we think we can tell a safe species apart from a dangerous one.
The moderator of the Reddit mushroom forum r/Mycology found that a search for the common Inkcap mushroom yielded an unrealistic AI-generated image as the first result
Foragers have been warned to avoid using Google Images to identify mushrooms after the search engine delivered AI-generated images (stock image)
This issue was first identified by a Reddit user MycoMutant, the moderator of the mushroom forum r/Mycology.
In a post, MycoMutant explained how they had searched for Coprinus comatus, a common edible mushroom often called shaggy mane or shaggy inkcap.
However, the user was surprised to find that the top result was a clearly AI-generated image and bore no resemblance to the real mushroom.
MycoMutant wrote: ‘Not only does this not remotely resemble Coprinus comatus and looks much closer to an inkcap in the Psathyrellaceae family but the image is not even real.’
Selecting the image revealed that it was clearly titled ‘Premium AI-generated PSD’ and was hosted on a free stock image website, Freepix.
Speaking to MailOnline, MycoMutant said they had reported dozens of incorrect snippet images to Google since March last year – most of which came from stock image sites.
MailOnline identified another case in which an AI-generated image was the first result for a common edible mushroom
Shaggy inkcaps (pictured) are edible, but experts warn that it could be risky if foragers are misled into picking unsafe varieties while looking for them
MycoMutant added: ‘Stock photo sites are a very poor source for accurate images of mushrooms because whilst there are many great photographers that can capture excellent images of mushrooms most of them are not capable of accurately identifying them.’
Since then, the issue appears to have only got worse with Google even using images posted to the r/Mycology forum by amateur enthusiasts who may not have been correct in their identification.
Professor Hawksworth adds: ‘Even without AI, as many posted images are wrongly named. There really needs to be warnings put out!’
However, when searching for the ‘parasole mushroom’, another common edible mushroom, the top result was once again AI-generated.
The image in the top result was also hosted by Freepix, clearly labelled as a ‘premium AI-generated image’, and bears absolutely no resemblance to the parasol mushroom.
Marlow Renton, foraging instructor and managing director of Wild Food UK, told MailOnline: ‘I believe this is an area of genuine concern.’
When shown the image, Mr Rentol said he didn’t know of ‘any in the UK that look remotely like that.’
A foraging expert said the AI-generated image (right) bore no resemblance to any UK mushroom and definitely did not resemble the parasol mushroom (left)
Google’s AI overview described a Beech mushroom while providing images of the boletus, another very different edible mushroom
In another case, the AI overview provided images of Common Morels while describing Japanese matsutake, an entirely distinct mushroom
However, AI-powered misinformation was not only limited to Google Image results.
MailOnline was able to identify several occasions in which Google’s AI Overview misidentified or provided incorrect images for edible mushrooms.
For example, when asked for a list of common edible mushrooms, Google’s AI described a beech mushroom with images of a bolete, a different and unrelated edible mushroom.
In an even more bizarre error, when describing a hedgehog mushroom the AI Overview provided an image of a real hedgehog.
MailOnline found that Google’s AI overview provided incorrect images for several searches for common edible mushrooms
In a particularly bizarre case, Google provided a picture of a real hedgehog when describing the hedgehog mushroom
As AI content and tools become more prevalent, there is also a growing concern that novice foragers could be at serious risk.
Mr Renton says: ‘This is a genuine worry because we’re dealing with things that are potentially poisonous.
‘Google Image search is not a reliable image search because the algorithm they use basically uses tagged words on the page rather than any image recognition software to verify the veracity of the tag.
‘It’s a place to start but people should always go to the source of the image and make their own judgement.’
Since mushrooms can be so similar, relying on AI-can overlook details which would distinguish a potentially dangerous species.
In one instance, Mr Renton used a popular AI-powered mushroom identification app on a white dome cap mushroom – an extremely toxic variety.
Mr Renton says that AI-powered apps and information can mistake poisonous varieties such as the white domecap (pictured) with similar-looking edible mushrooms
However, the app confidently identified the mushroom as a St George’s mushroom which is a highly-regarded gourmet mushroom.
‘If a novice had trusted the app, they would have poisoned themselves,’ Mr Renton says.
Recently, foragers were warned to avoid AI-generated foraging books which were being sold on Amazon.
These books contained AI-generated descriptions and images which were, in many cases incorrect and misleading.
Vix Hill-Ryder, wild food educator and founder of the Family Foraging Kitchen, told MailOnline: ‘Whilst all mushrooms are safe to handle and smell, some wild mushrooms, like the highly poisonous death cap, which can be mistaken for edible varieties, are toxic.
‘I would recommend only using online search engines and apps as an accompanying reference tool to compliment or compare to that of a positive ID taken from a reputable book source and by preferably, educating yourself via a course with an expert in their field.’
A Google spokesperson told MailOnline that the company is ‘looking into this’.