AI-generated mushroom foraging books flood Amazon

Occurred: September 2023

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AI-generated books for beginners on how to forage for and cook mushrooms have been found on Amazon, worrying experts about the possibility of inaccurate information killing people. 

The New York Mycological Society (NYMS) warned that the proliferation of AI-generated foraging books could 'mean life or death' for people with little experience of handling dangerous mushrooms. 

Analysis of the books suggested they were likely written using ChatGPT but sold not stating they were generated by artificial intelligence - which is not permitted under Amazon's Content Guidelines. The company later deleted a number of books violating its guidelines.

The incident raised questions about Amazon's ability to police AI content.

Databank

Operator: Amazon
Developer: OpenAI

Country: USA

Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts

Purpose: Generate text

Technology: Chatbot; NLP/text analysis; Neural network; Deep learning; Machine learning
Issue: Safety

Transparency: Governance; Marketing

System

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