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GenAI and the rapid disappearance of ground truth

This is a fascinating case study from the (consistently excellent) 404 media:

Google is serving AI-generated images of mushrooms when users search for some species, a risky and potentially fatal error for foragers who are trying to figure out what mushrooms are safe to eat. 

The AI images were flagged by the moderator of the r/mycology Reddit community, dedicated to “the love of fungi,” including, “hunting, foraging, [and] cultivation.” The moderator, who goes by MycoMutant, noticed that when they searched for the Coprinus comatus a fungus commonly known as shaggy ink cap or shaggy mane, the first image in the Google snippet, which is featured above the search results, was an AI-generated image that looked nothing like a real Coprinus comatus.

https://www.404media.co/email/66734c28-0702-4241-a314-cfb61af1cc86/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter