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‘Life or Death:’ AI-Generated Mushroom Foraging Books Are All Over Amazon (www.404media.co)

submitted 11 months ago by trashhalo@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org

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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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[–] panmeek@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

ooh can I ask what books? I'm just curious 😅

[–] FarceMultiplier@lemmy.ca 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

But if I tell you, I doxx myself :)

[–] Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Ah the balancing act of marketing one's stuff online and potentially outing yourself online

This is why you should always have a multitude of alt accounts for different reasons

Ie FarceMultiplier and FarceDivider, where FarceDivider is used to build a specific public facing image for when you talk about your book, and FarceMultiplier is used for shit posting.

[–] FarceMultiplier@lemmy.ca 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

That's not a bad idea. I'll message you with a link. Won't be Amazon, but what I'll send you is there as well. I make zero money from Amazon sales. It's a terrible platform for minor authors.

[–] Dee@lemmings.world 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It’s a terrible platform for minor authors.

Mind if I ask what a better option would be? Looking to release some work myself in the next year and was going to start looking at which options would be best.

[–] FarceMultiplier@lemmy.ca 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Since my books are for TTRPGs, selling on DriveThruRPG has been better by far. I've made hundreds of dollars from there and under $10 on Amazon. Amazon tricks authors by allowing them to publish there then pushing those authors to pay to advertise their own books...which I did, but made zero difference. I'm also on Barnes and Noble, but made no money at all there.

However, as an author I've used their services to print copies of my books to put in games stores and that's been very cost effective and made me decent money.

[–] Dee@lemmings.world 5 points 11 months ago

Nice, some of my material is also ttrpg related so that's especially helpful haha Thanks!

[–] namesaregreat@beehaw.org 2 points 11 months ago

I love DriveThruRPG for grabbing RPG books, I’m super happy to know it is better for the author!