Claude Routed a Teen to a Cliff Helicopters Couldn't Reach
Somewhere below him was a trail he could have walked. Somewhere above him was a helicopter that couldn't get close enough to matter. And in his pocket was the phone that had talked him up there — an AI chatbot with flawless grammar, total confidence, and not the faintest idea what a 518-metre cliff looks like in person. Bryce Gowryluk is sixteen. On Saturday, October 3, he rode the gondola up Grouse Mountain outside Vancouver, asked Anthropic's Claude to plan him a route across to Crown Mountain and back — a trek that takes fit, experienced hikers seven or eight hours — and followed its directions until the ground ran out. He ended the day pinned at the base of the final headwall of the Widowmaker Arete: a 518-metre wall of rock that demands ropes, cams and a clear plan for the ascent. He had none of those things. Getting him off it took a helicopter, two rescue technicians, and the better part of three hours. His first call, before emergency services, went to his...