Chatbots Are Leading Hikers Astray, With Dangerous Consequences
Outsourcing planning to AI can lead people to surrender their own critical thinking, which can have potentially deadly results in places like the backcountry.
Chatbots are leading hikers astray with dangerous consequences, according to the US Forest Service. Nick Meyers, a program manager, has responded to numerous calls, including those from unprepared hikers. He believes some hikers have become overly reliant on AI, "turning their brains off." Another incident involved a visitor in Mount Shasta who camped near a "No Camping" sign because AI told her she could, Meyers said.
The Mount Shasta Wilderness Climbing and Avalanche Center also encountered a man with an AI-generated map showing features on the wrong side of a mountain. In British Columbia, a helicopter rescued a 16-year-old hiker from the Widowmaker Arete on Crown Mountain after he used Anthropic’s chatbot Claude to plan his trip. The hiker later confirmed he consulted Google Maps and AllTrails as well.
Grand Teton National Park has seen a significant increase in AI usage by visitors, rising from zero to 26 percent in the past year, said Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins. It is unclear if this trend will lead to more backcountry accidents and search and rescues. However, some search and rescue veterans argue that AI chatbots are merely new tools that provide alternative ways for people to get into trouble.
Just as social media and Google Maps have led hikers astray in the past, AI chatbots pose unique risks. Chatbots can "hallucinate" and present misinformation as real, leading to a phenomenon called "cognitive surrender," where users rely too heavily on AI and stop thinking critically. Chatbots may also provide authoritative-sounding but inaccurate advice, as they often scrape information from unreliable sources.
Experts advise hikers to double-check information against reliable sources, such as up-to-date public-land agency maps, trail association websites, or guidebooks, and to consult real-live guides, national forest officials, or park rangers before embarking on any backcountry adventure.
Written by urgent.news from Wired Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
