Mother Jones: Using AI to Plan Backcountry Trips Is Getting People Into Big Trouble (Nov. 1, 2026)
“I think they kind of turned their brains off.”
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@ai6yr There's a very evil part of me thinking this isn't a loss for the human intellectual gene pool.
@ai6yr Dang. Hiking, backpacking, etc. is an area that I still would 100% work only with a paper map printed by a reliable source.
Even if I fully trusted the digital information, I wouldn't trust a digital device in the wilderness without backup.
Heck, when I travel, I still carry printed copies of my boarding pass and any reservation information. And I consider myself a technologist!
@ai6yr I mean, it's A way to thin the herd out by letting the dumdums remove themselves, but... yikes.
:facepalm:
But, knowing some people I know, nothing about this surprises me. They ask GPT about weather... outside, right now.
WAT
@ai6yr
I've been sailing for a few years, including in some rough conditions offshore.
I've never been more nervous than the day I hopped on a boat for a simple fair weather day sail whose captain asked ChatGPT for a nautical chart and route through a crowded harbor.
I brought my own dang chartplotter with me along with a crap load of other safety and survival gear.