A Chinese farmer loses a large area of sesame crops after following pesticide and treatment guidance provided by an AI chatbot, which he says leads to the destruction of seedlings. According to reports, the outcome is severe enough to wipe out crops across about 25 acres (also reported as roughly 25 hectares in other coverage).
The incident is described as the result of the farmer “trusting” or “blindly following” AI recommendations without independent verification. Different outlets characterize the chatbot’s role slightly differently, with one describing the problem as an accidental effect on sesame seedlings and another framing it as following AI advice on pesticides. Both accounts focus on the scale of the crop loss and the reliance on AI guidance rather than on any deliberate wrongdoing.
The reports do not provide detailed technical information about the chatbot’s source data, the specific recommendation it generated, or whether any agricultural authorities review the advice. The common thread across coverage is that the farmer’s reliance on AI guidance coincides with extensive crop damage.
