- AI-Generated Book Incident
- David Schwartz's Opinion
- Historical Precedent
Recently, David Schwartz, the CTO of Ripple, drew attention to a new AI-related controversy.
AI-Generated Book Incident
Schwartz shared a viral Reddit post claiming that a family suffered poisoning after relying on a mushroom identification book created using AI. According to the Reddit poster, the entire family ended up in the hospital after consuming poisonous mushrooms. The book, purchased from a major retailer, contained AI-generated images of mushrooms. Additionally, the book's text was likely written with the help of AI, as it contained standard replies from a chatbot.
David Schwartz's Opinion
Though the retailer agreed to refund the book, there are still concerns about other low-quality books available on its website. The Reddit poster wondered whether this sort of negligence could be reported to the police to punish the creators of the book. "If this report is true, it's history repeating itself," Schwartz said in his social media post.
Historical Precedent
Schwartz pointed out the case of Winter v. G.P. Putnam's Sons, a Court of Appeals case from 1991. Two young adults bought a book called "The Encyclopedia of Mushrooms" as a reference guide. The book included extensive information on where to find mushrooms, how to collect them, and how to cook them. After using the book, the couple became critically ill, requiring liver transplants. Despite the mushroom hunters nearly dying due to the incorrect information offered by the book, the court sided with the publisher.
The proliferation of low-quality AI-generated books makes it harder for readers to obtain accurate information.
