Teen's AI-guided mountain hike ends with a helicopter rescue and a lesson in common sense

A 16-year-old had to be airlifted off a dangerous rock face on Crown Mountain near Vancouver after planning his route with an AI chatbot. Bryce Vincent Gowryluk used Anthropic's Claude to find a new way to the summit but ended up on the "Widowmaker Arete," a steep cliff that requires climbing gear, according to the New York Times.

He got stuck on a five-foot-wide ledge and called the police, who alerted the volunteer North Shore Rescue team. Rescuers tracked his cellphone, sent a helicopter, and dropped two team members above his position. One rappelled down to Bryce and guided him to a spot where the helicopter could winch him up.

Bryce said he doesn't blame Claude and takes responsibility, noting he also used Google Maps and AllTrails during planning. Rescue manager Paul Markey said Claude has no actual knowledge of locations or terrain and that AI is no substitute for experience and common sense on the trail. Anthropic didn't respond to a request for comment. Bryce says he'll keep climbing but never use AI for route planning again.

AI News Without the Hype – Curated by Humans

Subscribe to THE DECODER for ad-free reading, a weekly AI newsletter, our exclusive "AI Radar" frontier report six times a year, full archive access, and access to our comment section.