B.C. teen stranded on cliff after having AI plan his route

A B.C. teen found himself stranded on a cliff over the weekend after he followed a route plotted by AI.

As reported by local news outlet North Shore News, the unnamed 16-year-old had to be rescued after getting stuck on Crown Mountain on Saturday afternoon. According to search manager Paul Markey, the boy started a hiking trail from Grouse Mountain that went to Crown Mountain.

Following directions from AI, the boy began ascending Crown Mountain via a gully, a narrow ditch that’s formed by running water. However, the trail led the teen to a rock-climbing route with steep terrain, and it was there that he got stuck at the base of a cliff. Ultimately, Markey says the boy was able to be located and rescued by volunteers a few hours later after calling for help with his cell phone.

The article didn’t mention a specific AI platform, so it’s unclear which the boy used. Still, this points to the larger issue regarding the mistakes that AI can make, whether it’s misleading search results, unauthorized purchases or wrongful criminal charges. (That’s to say nothing of how it’s used for even more malicious ends like Elon Musk’s Grok creating sexual images of women and minors, or the steep environmental costs associated with AI data centres.)

Naturally, Markey advised people to not use AI to plan hiking routes.

“Be cautious when getting routes and information suggested through AI,” he told North Shore News. “You can’t just blindly follow what AI is proposing to you. You need to question the information and just see whether it makes sense or not.”

In place of AI platforms, Markey suggests using tools like Gaia GPS, CalTopo or AllTrails. He also said it’s important for hikers to bring other gear with them, which he did praise the boy for doing, including a cell phone battery pack, headlamp, hiking boots and a windproof jacket.

Ironically, this report comes just a few days after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, one of the biggest AI-pilled tech executives, pushed back against fears that AI is making people dumber. According to him, it doesn’t matter if people forget basic skills like math due to AI use because they’ll simply pick up other skills in the process. But of course, examples like the B.C. teen hiker show the importance of being able to think for yourself, regardless of what AI might tell you.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: North Shore News