Gemini Advised Packing Less Food — Three Hikers Rescued from Mount Shasta

Three hikers were rescued this week from Mount Shasta in California after entrusting the planning of their trip to Google's artificial intelligence — the chatbot Gemini. The story is reported by the Chicago Tribune, citing a report from the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office.

According to the agency, the three young men set out on the trail at three in the morning. Although hikers are typically warned that if they haven't reached the summit by noon they should turn back, this group didn't make it to the peak until seven in the evening. The descent had to be made in the dark.

Having lost their bearings, the hikers called the sheriff's office to ask for directions and ultimately spent the night in Mud Creek Canyon. In the morning they were led out by Forest Service rangers along with volunteers.

Pinning all the blame on the neural network would, of course, be an overstatement — the decisions were made by people, after all. Still, as the sheriff's office notes, Gemini advised the participants to bring “significantly less food and water than the group needed,” and this proved especially consequential when the planned eight-hour ascent turned into a multi-day ordeal.

The agency offered a reminder of the obvious — though evidently not obvious to everyone: before setting out on a trail, it's worth contacting the local Forest Service ranger station to get the most current and accurate information, and to “never rely solely on AI to plan a hike.”

Source: TechCrunch