In particular, know how to identify the common and deadly species (eg: much of the genus Amanita) yourself, and get multiple trustworthy field guides for your part of the world.
In particular, know how to identify the common and deadly species (eg: much of the genus Amanita) yourself, and get multiple trustworthy field guides for your part of the world.
No need to vilify fungi specifically. Plants can kill you too. Or even animals. If you’re going to hunt or forage you have to know your shit.
Yes, but mushrooms are typically harder to identify than plants are, so AI is surely not very good at it. Even mycologists are only learning in recent years that some mushrooms which they had long believed to be the same species are in fact entirely different species (thanks to genetic testing).
I myself forage for both plants and mushrooms and I practiced identifying mushrooms for years before I would eat anything I found.
I do feel like mushrooms get a bad rep compared to plants – there are certain mushrooms (in the UK at least) that are very safe to forage. Boletes (if you check for staining and red on the stem), agaricus, hedgehog fungi, blewits, shaggy inkcaps…
Others I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole, even if I’m 99% sure. Any of the small white funnels (miller etc.) I’m not interested in, and likewise amanitas I won’t go near.
But obviously the point stands that using AI, rather than books or trusted sources, is a non-starter. Always use multiple sources when foraging (message for a general audience).
Death camas and wild onion are not easy to tell apart. Chanterelles and morels can be identified safely and easily by beginners by looking at a few key features. Neither should use an app to ID.