AI Advice Wipes Out 10-Hectare Sesame Crop, Costing Chinese Farmer 150,000 Yuan
Updated
Updated · The Star Online · Aug 10
AI Advice Wipes Out 10-Hectare Sesame Crop, Costing Chinese Farmer 150,000 Yuan
3 articles · Updated · The Star Online · Aug 10
Summary
150,000 yuan in losses hit 67-year-old farmer Wu after sesame seedlings across his 10-hectare Anhui farm withered a day after he followed an AI-generated weed and pest-control plan.
Agriculture technicians said the damage came from fomesafen, a herbicide unsuitable for sesame fields that can kill an entire crop; the AI had recommended drone spraying and specified which chemicals to use.
Wu had grown increasingly reliant on the software since learning about it in 2025 and sought its advice on July 10 before applying the treatment exactly as instructed.
The AI company said its system lacks an independent knowledge base and draws from publicly available internet information, adding that it would investigate where the faulty recommendation came from.