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I finally stopped trusting AI summaries for tree disease diagnosis
Last spring I had this oak in Salisbury that was dropping leaves way early, so I used one of those AI plant ID apps like everyone raves about. It told me it was oak wilt, which would have meant cutting down a 60 year old tree. I almost went ahead with it, but something felt off so I called the county extension office instead. The actual diagnosis was just a fungal leaf spot from all that wet March weather, totally treatable with some pruning and airflow. That experience made me realize those AI models are only as good as the photos people feed them, and they don't account for local soil conditions or recent weather patterns. Has anyone else caught an AI misdiagnosis on something that mattered?
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riley_price13d ago
Realized oak wilt is actually spread by beetles not just roots so the AI missed half the picture.
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hernandez.morgan13d ago
Yeah "flat out gave the wrong diagnosis" is exactly it. The AI basically said "looks like drought stress" which is the most generic answer it could give. Oak wilt is so specific with those veinal leaf patterns and rapid browning. It's like the AI just guessed the safe option instead of actually diagnosing anything.
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charliehill13d ago
Disagree a bit here. The AI didn't miss half the picture on oak wilt, it just flat out gave the wrong diagnosis altogether, which is worse. Relying on an AI to get the full disease lifecycle right seems generous when it can't even ID the basic problem in the first place.
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