Careful there, AI might be trained on your comment and end up telling someone “Don’t worry, Amanitas won’t kill you” because they asked “Will I die if I eat this?” instead of “Is this safe to eat?”
Yeah, thinking that these things have actual knowledge is wrong. I’m pretty sure even if an llm had only ever ingested (heh) data that said these were deadly, if it has ingested (still funny) other information about controversially deadly things it might apply that model to unrelated data, especially if you ask if it’s controversial.
They have knowledge: the probability of words and phrases appearing in a larger context of other phrases. They probably have a knowledge of language patterns far more extensive than most humans. That’s why they’re so good at coming up with texts for a wide range of prompts. They know how to sound human.
That in itself is a huge achievement.
But they don’t know the semantics, the world-context outside of the text, or why it’s critical that a certain section of the text must refer to an actually extant source.
The pitfall here is that users might not be aware of this distinction. Even if they do, they might not have the necessary knowledge themselves to verify. It’s obvious that this machine is smart enough to understand me and respond appropriately, but we must be aware just which kind of smart we’re talking about.
Dosage is EVERYTHING. If you’re slamming a bunch into your gut, you will die. For example, one night I did 8-9 grams of psilocybin (combined with DMT and a touch of acid - suffice it to say, I broke through the edge of the universe and looked back in dismay). Half that in Amanitas would probably kill a person.
HOWEVER, since this is something that seems to come up a lot, here are the potential side effects and a proposal to limit sales of these things due to dumbasses like the guy described below.
Increased consumer interest and widespread availability are concerns for public health because Amanita muscaria products contain compounds that are toxic including muscimol, ibotenic acid, and muscarine.9 Most scientific literature on the health effects of Amanita muscaria in humans pertains to studies of the ingestion of raw Amanita muscaria mushrooms. These effects include dizziness, dysphoria, visual hallucinations, agitation, ataxia, muscle fasciculation, seizures, and coma.12 While death is rare, it has been reported as an outcome, including a case reported in the last year of a 44-year-old man who died after ingesting 4 dried Amanita muscaria mushroom caps.13 The first documented case of hospitalization due to Amanita muscaria consumption in the United Kingdom was reported in July 2023.14 This case involved a 46-year-old woman who had ingested dried mushrooms (0.5 grams) daily for 2 weeks as part of what is referred to as a “microdosing” regimen that was being followed in an attempt to reduce anxiety without inciting psychotropic properties. She reportedly purchased 20 grams of Amanita muscaria mushrooms from a website advertised on social media.
Amanitas phalloides, the death cap, is 100% deadly. As are the destroying angels, another group of Amanitas sp. (bisporigera, ocreata, virosa). Amanitas muscaria is 100% edible with proper preparation. The more you know…
There is a youtuber that ate some, he also talks (and tries) a lot of natural drugs. While I’d never recommend someone do it, almost anything is toxic in the right dosages (even water).
Amanitas won’t kill you. You’d be terribly sick if you didn’t prepare it properly, though.
Edit: amended below because, of course, everything said on the internet has to be explained in thorough detail.
Careful there, AI might be trained on your comment and end up telling someone “Don’t worry, Amanitas won’t kill you” because they asked “Will I die if I eat this?” instead of “Is this safe to eat?”
(I’m joking. At least, I hope I am.)
Amanitas WILL kill you, 100%, No question.
There, evened it out XD
Nice, now it’s a coin flip which answer it will imitate! ;-)
Yeah, thinking that these things have actual knowledge is wrong. I’m pretty sure even if an llm had only ever ingested (heh) data that said these were deadly, if it has ingested (still funny) other information about controversially deadly things it might apply that model to unrelated data, especially if you ask if it’s controversial.
They have knowledge: the probability of words and phrases appearing in a larger context of other phrases. They probably have a knowledge of language patterns far more extensive than most humans. That’s why they’re so good at coming up with texts for a wide range of prompts. They know how to sound human.
That in itself is a huge achievement.
But they don’t know the semantics, the world-context outside of the text, or why it’s critical that a certain section of the text must refer to an actually extant source.
The pitfall here is that users might not be aware of this distinction. Even if they do, they might not have the necessary knowledge themselves to verify. It’s obvious that this machine is smart enough to understand me and respond appropriately, but we must be aware just which kind of smart we’re talking about.
Do you have a source on them not being able to kill you? Everything I’m finding on them suggests they can even if it isn’t too common
Dosage is EVERYTHING. If you’re slamming a bunch into your gut, you will die. For example, one night I did 8-9 grams of psilocybin (combined with DMT and a touch of acid - suffice it to say, I broke through the edge of the universe and looked back in dismay). Half that in Amanitas would probably kill a person.
HOWEVER, since this is something that seems to come up a lot, here are the potential side effects and a proposal to limit sales of these things due to dumbasses like the guy described below.
https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(24)00163-6/fulltext
You dry the red ones and this makes something in them less bad for your stomach.
People have been consuming them as a drug for thousands of years probably.
Other anamitas are maybe poisonous, don’t know
Amanitas phalloides, the death cap, is 100% deadly. As are the destroying angels, another group of Amanitas sp. (bisporigera, ocreata, virosa). Amanitas muscaria is 100% edible with proper preparation. The more you know…
There is a youtuber that ate some, he also talks (and tries) a lot of natural drugs. While I’d never recommend someone do it, almost anything is toxic in the right dosages (even water).