TOKUSHIMA - Authorities are warning people not to rely on artificial intelligence, guidebooks or internet searches to decide whether wild mushrooms are safe to eat after food poisoning cases involving toxic species, including one in which AI mistakenly identified a poisonous mushroom as edible.
In Tokushima Prefecture, a woman in her 90s developed symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea after cooking and eating mushrooms that were growing in the garden of her home on September 10.
The mushrooms are believed to have been Chlorophyllum molybdites, a poisonous species commonly found in parks, gardens and other areas from late summer through autumn.
The woman was hospitalized but suffered only mild symptoms.
The case comes as mushrooms enter their main season and follows another incident last year in which a man in Wakayama City relied on an AI system to identify mushrooms he had collected in the mountains.
After the man photographed the mushrooms and asked AI to identify them, the system responded that they appeared to be either shiitake or oyster mushrooms and were safe to eat.
Believing the answer, the man grilled and ate the mushrooms. He later began vomiting and was temporarily hospitalized.
The mushrooms were actually poisonous tsukiyotake, a species that resembles edible oyster mushrooms and other varieties.
Wakayama City is urging people not to make their own judgments about wild mushrooms based on AI, illustrated guides or information found on the internet, warning that such identification can be dangerous.
Source: TBS
