Rescuers successfully extracted a 16-year-old hiker from a cliff in British Columbia, Canada, after the boy followed a route devised using the AI agent Claude and got stranded.
North Shore Rescue, the group that responded to the situation, said on social media that the hiker strayed far from a hiking route on Crown Mountain, about 10 miles north of Vancouver, Canada, and ended up on a climbing route called the “Widowmaker” instead.
Bryce Gowryluk, the young hiker, told the New York Times that he thought he was going into the Crown Couloir, which would take him 5,000 feet up the side of the mountain, but instead ended up on the steep climbing route.
People were interested in these podcasts
He called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which contacted North Shore Rescue, once he realized how trapped he was.
“The boy was very scared. He definitely feared for his life,” North Shore Rescue search manager Paul Markey told North Shore News.
North Shore Rescue personnel were inserted above where Bryce was located; he was pressed so close against the rock face that the helicopter rotor blades did not have enough room to bring them to his location directly.
The crew instead got onto solid ground, lowered a rescuer down via a rope to reach Bryce and then secured him, the group said on social media.
Bryce said the error was with him and not with Claude, since he confused the route that led him towards the Widowmaker for his intended route.
But he also told the New York Times that “I’d still use A.I. for stuff like business and booking meetings and learning new things. But for trails? No. Never again. Never, never again.”
Mr. Markey concurred with the teen’s conclusion, telling CTV News that “Claude has never been in that specific area, has never been on that route, and has never been in the outdoors.
“Do your own research and gain your own knowledge of the area and supplement it with training and navigation,” he advised.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.