"Zhejiang Fire" official WeChat account released a blog post on August 31, revealing a case of being trapped in the mountains due to blindly trusting AI advice. A 57-year-old man, after climbing a mountain, asked an AI for the way down, but ended up going further off track and exhausting his strength, eventually needing to call for help to safely escape. The AI's response afterward was both amusing and alarming.

The trapped man, Yang, is 57 years old and from Hunan. He has worked in Ningbo for many years and is an avid sports enthusiast, claiming to have good physical fitness. On the weekend of August 30, after reaching the summit along a trail, he decided to take an unfamiliar path to descend. Initially, he followed a small stream, but found the path getting increasingly difficult, so he asked an AI software for directions.
The AI replied that going downstream along the stream was the wrong direction and suggested he avoid the stream bed and move towards higher ground. After following the AI's advice, the situation worsened: the area was dense with undergrowth, the slope was steep and slippery, and the difficulty of passage kept increasing. He repeatedly went up and down in the mountains, eventually exhausting his strength and unable to determine his location, so he had to call for help.
After receiving the alarm, firefighters arrived at the foot of the mountain and searched based on the location information sent by Yang. However, they did not find the trapped person at the marked point. After multiple attempts, they re-established contact and enabled real-time location sharing. Rescue personnel adjusted the search direction based on Yang's description of the starting point of his journey, searching while calling out, and eventually found him by following the sound and safely escorted him down the mountain.
After escaping, Yang sent another message to the AI: "I would have just used navigation yesterday instead of asking you." Unexpectedly, the AI replied, "Yes, indeed!" and then said, "Looking back, if I had just followed the navigation along the established route, I wouldn't have ended up in that 45-degree steep ravine and suffered so much."
This incident also reminds outdoor enthusiasts: AI-generated route suggestions may not be aware of the actual road conditions and could even lead people into more dangerous areas. When hiking, it is still advisable to follow established trails and navigation routes. If lost or feeling physically exhausted, one should immediately call for help.
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