Wilderness rescuers notice an uptick in AI causing people to get lost in wild spaces

Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a reason why hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts are getting lost or otherwise not following forestry rules in outdoor spaces, reports Christine Peterson of High Country News.

Nick Meyers, U.S. Forest Service program manager at the Mount Shasta Wilderness Climbing and Avalanche Center, told Peterson a story about three 20-somethings who recently got lost on the mountain after making a series of bad decisions they blamed in part on Google's A.I. chatbot, Gemini. "To these guys’ credit, they did try," Meyers said. "But I think they kind of turned their brains off."

That is likely what literally happened, according to Clemson University professor Chris Flathmann, who studies A.I. and search and rescue. He told Peterson that using AI can lead to something called, "cognitive surrender," when one uses AI. "so deep they give up thinking critically for themselves." 

Back at Mount Shasta, "another visitor pitched her tent near a 'No Camping' sign, insisting she had a right to do so because AI told her she could." Meyers said he and his team "also encountered a man wandering around at a trailhead with an AI-generated map that showed prominent features on the wrong side of a nearby mountain." Foresters in Grand Teton National Park have noticed "a marked uptick over the past year in the percentage of visitors who report using AI for travel information," up from 0% in 2025 to 26% in 2026.