Urgent warning from scientists: Google is showing AI-generated images of mushrooms that look nothing like the real species - which could have deadly consequences

Experts are warning foragers to avoid using Google Images to identify mushrooms after the search engine is delivering misleading AI-generated results. Searches for a number of common edible mushrooms return wildly inaccurate images as the top result, despite these images being flagged as AI-generated. Foraging experts warn this could lead to dangerous, if not deadly, errors for foragers trying to identify safe mushrooms to eat. Professor David Hawksworth, a mycologist from the University of Southampton, told MailOnline: 'This is potentially extremely dangerous.' However, experts routinely warn that it isn't safe to pick up and eat mushrooms that we find on the ground - even if we think we can tell a safe species apart from a dangerous one.