Chinese Farmer Loses Nearly 25 Acres of Sesame After Following AI Chatbot Advice A 67-year-old farmer in Chuzhou, Anhui province, watched nearly 25 acres of sesame seedlings die overnight after applying a chemical mix recommended by an AI chatbot. What Happened
The farmer, surnamed Wu, had used the AI app for about a year for general farming questions and gradually trusted its answers after earlier suggestions proved useful. On July 10 he requested a full weed-and-pest control plan for his sesame fields, including drone application. The chatbot generated a detailed “Hundred Acres of Sesame Grass Control + Pest Control” scheme recommending high-efficiency flupyrimethalin and flusulfasulfaether (also reported as fomesafen or flufenacet) for weeds, mixed with thiamethoxam and emamectin benzoate for insects. Wu sprayed the entire mixture by drone across roughly 150 mu (about 24.7 acres) without consulting local agronomists or testing a small area first. By the next morning both the weeds and the sesame seedlings were dead — the crop wilted even faster than the grass. Why It Failed
Agricultural experts later confirmed the key herbicide is registered mainly for controlling broadleaf weeds in soybean fields. Sesame is also a broadleaf plant, so the chemical is toxic to it. The product is meant for targeted, directed spraying only, not broadcast application across an entire field. When Wu asked the AI what went wrong, it identified the same herbicide as the culprit. Estimated loss: around 150,000 yuan (roughly $22,000). The chatbot carried a small disclaimer that its output might be inaccurate, but the farmer said he never noticed it. The case underscores the risks of treating general-purpose AI as a substitute for domain-specific expertise in irreversible, high-stakes decisions such as chemical use on living crops.
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The farmer, surnamed Wu, had used the AI app for about a year for general farming questions and gradually trusted its answers after earlier suggestions proved useful. On July 10 he requested a full weed-and-pest control plan for his sesame fields, including drone application. The chatbot generated a detailed “Hundred Acres of Sesame Grass Control + Pest Control” scheme recommending high-efficiency flupyrimethalin and flusulfasulfaether (also reported as fomesafen or flufenacet) for weeds, mixed with thiamethoxam and emamectin benzoate for insects. Wu sprayed the entire mixture by drone across roughly 150 mu (about 24.7 acres) without consulting local agronomists or testing a small area first. By the next morning both the weeds and the sesame seedlings were dead — the crop wilted even faster than the grass. Why It Failed
Agricultural experts later confirmed the key herbicide is registered mainly for controlling broadleaf weeds in soybean fields. Sesame is also a broadleaf plant, so the chemical is toxic to it. The product is meant for targeted, directed spraying only, not broadcast application across an entire field. When Wu asked the AI what went wrong, it identified the same herbicide as the culprit. Estimated loss: around 150,000 yuan (roughly $22,000). The chatbot carried a small disclaimer that its output might be inaccurate, but the farmer said he never noticed it. The case underscores the risks of treating general-purpose AI as a substitute for domain-specific expertise in irreversible, high-stakes decisions such as chemical use on living crops.
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