Mount Shasta rescues hikers misled by Gemini, Meyers says

The Mount Shasta episode is one of several incidents cited in the Wired and High Country News account. Another visitor pitched her tent near a "No Camping" sign because AI told her she could, and a man was found at a trailhead with an AI-generated map showing prominent features on the wrong side of a nearby mountain. In British Columbia, a helicopter crew rescued a 16-year-old hiker from a ledge on Crown Mountain after he used Anthropic's Claude to help plan his trip, though he said he also consulted Google Maps and AllTrails. Chris Flathmann, a human-centered computing professor at Clemson University, described the risk as "cognitive surrender" — users give up critical thinking when AI presents itself as an expert on topics they don't know well. Jim Moss, a Colorado-based recreation attorney and search and rescue volunteer, noted that social media and Google Maps were earlier tools that led people astray, suggesting the pattern may be less about AI specifically and more about how new tools get used. Meyers's office averages a dozen rescues each year, and Wyoming's 2026 calls are down from 2025.