[homerowilson]

We foragers and amateur mycologists use smell, touch (slimy, dry, etc,) sometimes taste (bitter, acrid,...), habitat (on wood, ground, type of wood, is there a bulb below ground or a root-like structure, time of year, spore prints, sometimes color change due to drops of chemicals (especially on boletes), sometimes even microscopes to view spores, and more.

all of these variables could of course be coded for a good classification algorithm.

just saying, it's often more than simply visual.

[yostrovs]

It's mostly visual. I would add location and latest weather to any software trying to recognize the mushroom. The mushrooms that people commonly forage for are not that numerous, so the algorithm needs to know about a dozen or two varieties. Chanterelles are easy to tell from images. You can probably have an AI chanterelle identifier coded right now and for most edible mushrooms very soon if not now.