According to the Chicago Tribune, three hikers were rescued from California’s Mount Shasta after reportedly using Google’s AI chatbot Gemini to plan their expedition. The Siskiyou County sheriff’s office reported that the trio, who began their hike at 3 a.m., reached the summit at 7 p.m., despite advisories to turn around if they had not summited by noon. The hikers then attempted to descend in the dark, contacted the sheriff’s office for directions, and spent the night in Mud Creek Canyon before being rescued the following morning by Forest Service rangers and volunteers.
The sheriff’s office indicated that while it is unclear if Gemini bears full responsibility for the hikers’ poor decisions, the AI chatbot allegedly advised the group to bring significantly less food and water than necessary, particularly as their planned 8-hour ascent turned into a multi-day ordeal. In response, the sheriff’s office emphasized the importance of consulting the local USFS Mount Shasta ranger station prior to embarking on a trip and cautioned against relying solely on AI for trip planning.
Source: TechCrunch - Hikers rescued after using Google Gemini for planning