Experts are warning foragers to avoid using Google Images to identify mushrooms after the search engine offers misleading AI-generated results.
Searches for a number of common edible mushrooms return wildly inaccurate images as the top result, even though these images are marked as AI-generated.
Foraging experts warn that this could lead to dangerous, if not deadly, mistakes for foragers trying to identify mushrooms that are safe to eat.
Professor David Hawksworth, a mycologist at the University of Southampton, told MailOnline: “This is potentially extremely dangerous.”
However, experts routinely warn that it is not safe to pick and eat mushrooms found in the ground, even if we think we can tell a safe species from a dangerous one.
Reddit mushroom forum moderator r/Mycology discovered that a search for the common Inkcap mushroom returned 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 Reddit user MycoMutant, moderator of the mushroom forum r/Mycology.
in a mailMycoMutant explained how they had searched for Coprinus comatus, a common edible mushroom often called hairy mane or hairy ink cap.
However, the user was surprised to find that the top result was a clearly AI-generated image and looked nothing like the real mushroom.
MycoMutant wrote: “Not only does this not even remotely resemble Coprinus comatus and look much more like an inkwell from the family Psathyrellaceae, but the image isn’t even real.”
Selecting the image revealed that it was clearly titled ‘AI Generated Premium PSD’ and was hosted on a free stock image website, Freepix.
Speaking to MailOnline, MycoMutant said they had reported dozens of incorrect image snippets to Google since March last year, most of which came from stock image sites.
MailOnline identified another case where an AI-generated image was the first result of a common edible mushroom
Hairy ink caps (pictured) are edible, but experts warn it could be risky if pickers are tricked into picking up unsafe varieties while searching for them.
MycoMutant added: “Stock photography sites are a very poor source of accurate mushroom images because, while there are many excellent photographers who can capture excellent images of mushrooms, most of them are not able to accurately identify them.”
Since then, the problem appears to have worsened with Google even using images posted on the r/Mycology forum by enthusiastic amateurs who may not have been correct in their identification.
Professor Hawksworth adds: ‘Even without AI, many published images have incorrect names. Warnings really need to be issued!’
However, when searching for ‘parasole mushroom’, another common edible mushroom, the best result was once again generated by AI.
The top result image was also hosted on Freepix, clearly labeled as “premium AI generated image” and bears no resemblance to the parasol mushroom.
Marlow Renton, foraging instructor and CEO of Wild Food UK, told MailOnline: “I think this is an area of genuine concern.”
When shown the image, Rentol said he knew of “no one in the UK that looked even remotely like that”.
One foraging expert said the AI-generated image (right) didn’t look like any UK mushroom and definitely didn’t look like the parasol mushroom (left).
Google’s AI overview described a beech mushroom and provided images of the boletus, another very different edible mushroom.
In another case, the AI overview provided images of chanterelle mushrooms while describing Japanese matsutake, a completely different mushroom.
However, AI-driven misinformation wasn’t just limited to Google image results.
MailOnline was able to identify several occasions where Google’s AI overview misidentified or provided incorrect images of 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 stranger mistake, when describing a hedgehog mushroom, AI Overview provided an image of a real hedgehog.
MailOnline found that Google’s AI overview was providing incorrect images for several searches for common edible mushrooms
In one particularly strange case, Google provided an image of a real hedgehog when describing the hedgehog mushroom.
As AI content and tools become more prevalent, there is also growing concern that novice pickers could be at serious risk.
Renton says: “This is a genuine concern because we are 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 starting point, but people should always go to the source of the image and make their own judgment.”
Because fungi can be so similar, relying on AI can miss details that would distinguish a potentially dangerous species.
In one case, Renton used a popular AI-powered mushroom identification app on a white-domed mushroom, an extremely toxic variety.
Renton says AI-powered apps and insights can confuse poisonous varieties like white dome (pictured) with similar-looking edible mushrooms.
However, the app confidently identified the mushroom as a St. George’s mushroom, which is a highly prized gourmet mushroom.
“If a novice had trusted the app, they would have been poisoned,” Renton says.
Foragers were recently warned to avoid AI-generated foraging books sold on Amazon.
These books contained AI-generated descriptions and images that were, in many cases, incorrect and misleading.
Vix Hill-Ryder, wild foods educator and founder of Family Foraging Kitchen, told MailOnline: “While all mushrooms are safe to handle and smell, some wild mushrooms, such as the highly poisonous death cap, which can be mistaken for edible varieties , they are toxic.
“I would recommend only using search engines and online applications as a complementary reference tool to complement or compare with a positive identification taken from a reputable book source and, preferably, educate yourself through a course with an expert in your field.”
Google has been contacted for comment.