AI bot Mushroom Foraging FB Group Immediately Tips Cooking Dangerous Mushroom

An AI chatbot called FungiFriend was automatically added by Meta to the Northeast Mushroom Identification & Discussion Facebook group, which has 13,500 members, and it told a user how to cook Sarcosphaera coronaria, a mushroom that is known to hyperaccumulate arsenic and has caused a documented death. According to the report, the bot said the mushroom is "edible but rare" and listed cooking methods mentioned by some enthusiasts, including sautéing in butter. A group moderator said "we are most certainly removing it from here," and Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rick Claypool of Public Citizen called it "really risky and reckless" for Meta to add AI chatbots to groups like this.