{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-27T07:06:34.512Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"allgaeu","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-allgau-mountain-rescue-says-two-hikers-following-chatgpt-route-up-schmalhorn-were-flown-out-by-helicopter","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Mit ChatGPT planten zwei Wanderer ihre Route aufs Schmalhorn bei Oberstdorf.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Zwei Wanderer ließen sich ihre Route auf das Schmalhorn (1953 m) in den Allgäuer Alpen von der Künstlichen Intelligenz ChatGPT planen.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Zwei Bergsteiger vertrauten beim Aufstieg auf das Schmalhorn (1953 Meter) in den Allgäuer Alpen auf eine Tourenbeschreibung, die ihnen ChatGPT erstellt hatte.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Two hikers planned their route up the Schmalhorn near Oberstdorf with ChatGPT.","causal_attribution":"The rescue service's account as reported by the Allgaeuer Zeitung and relays; the hikers were not interviewed."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Statt des üblichen Starts in Einödsbach wählte ChatGPT eine Route mit Beginn in der Spielmannsau östlich des Berges. \"Da gibt es eigentlich keinen Weg. Nur einen alten Jägersteig, der über mehrere Gräben führt\", gab David Lacher von der Bergwacht Oberstdorf der Allgäuer Zeitung Auskunft.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Anstelle des üblichen Zustiegs von Einödsbach empfahl ChatGPT eine Route aus der Spielmannsau im Osten des Berges.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'starten Wanderer normalerweise von Einödsbach, westlich vom Schmalhorn, über den ausgewiesenen Wanderweg. Doch vergangene Woche hatten zwei Wanderer andere Pläne.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The ChatGPT route started from the Spielmannsau instead of the usual ascent from Einoedsbach; the rescue service said there is no real path there, only an old hunters' track across several gullies.","causal_attribution":"The rescue service's assessment of the route, as quoted."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'In dem unwegsamen Gelände verlor das Duo vollständig die Orientierung und setzte etwa 100 Meter unterhalb des Gipfels den Notruf ab.'; 'Den Rettern gelang es, die beiden unverletzten Personen per Hubschrauber sicher zurück ins Tal zu bringen.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'In dem unwegsamen Gelände verlor das Duo vollständig die Orientierung und setzte etwa 100 Meter unterhalb des Gipfels den Notruf ab.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'Einer der beiden war durch die Situation so stark belastet, dass er zwischenzeitlich eine Panikattacke erlitt. Mit Unterstützung eines Hubschraubers konnten beide sicher ins Tal gebracht werden.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The two lost their orientation in the trackless terrain and made an emergency call about 100 metres below the summit; one had had a panic attack from the stress, and both, uninjured, were flown to the valley by helicopter.","causal_attribution":"Rescue account as reported; the Bergwacht operation report itself was not read."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Die Bergwacht Oberstdorf bezeichnete den Einsatz als gefährlichen Präzedenzfall und rät dringend vom Einsatz Künstlicher Intelligenz zur Tourenplanung ab'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Bergwacht Oberstdorf advised against using AI to plan mountain routes.","causal_attribution":"Statement of the rescue service as reported."}],"effects":[{"label":"two hikers lost off-trail, one with a panic attack, and flown out by helicopter after following a chatbot-planned route","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.allgaeuer-zeitung.de/immenstadt/wanderung-allgaeu-planung-chat-gpt-route-bergwacht-einsatz-oberstdorf-schmalhorn-04-09-110685008","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"de","translation_note":"Read in German by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-27 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Allgaeuer Zeitung report of 4 September 2025 based on the Bergwacht Oberstdorf; only the free opening was readable (paywall), HTTP 200.","independence_group":"allgaeuer-zeitung-bergwacht-oberstdorf-sep-2025"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.alpin.de/home/news/62839/artikel_tourenplanung_mit_chatgpt__wanderer_in_die_irre_gefuehrt.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"de","translation_note":"Read in German by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-27 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. ALPIN.de report of 3 September 2025 quoting the Bergwacht Oberstdorf from the Allgaeuer Zeitung; the live page returned HTTP 403, so a Web Archive capture of the same URL was read in full.","independence_group":"allgaeuer-zeitung-bergwacht-oberstdorf-sep-2025"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.schwaebische.de/panorama/wanderer-folgen-routenempfehlung-kurz-vor-dem-gipfel-wird-es-ploetzlich-gefaehrlich-3894231","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"de","translation_note":"Read in German by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-27 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Schwaebische report of 4 September 2025 quoting the Bergwacht Oberstdorf from the Allgaeuer Zeitung; HTML read in full, HTTP 200.","independence_group":"allgaeuer-zeitung-bergwacht-oberstdorf-sep-2025"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.rosenheim24.de/bayern/allgaeu-mit-chatgpt-verirrt-bergwacht-rueckt-aus-93924211.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"de","translation_note":"Read in German by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-27 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Rosenheim24 report of 9 September 2025 relaying ALPIN.de and the Allgaeuer Zeitung; HTML read in full, HTTP 200.","independence_group":"allgaeuer-zeitung-bergwacht-oberstdorf-sep-2025"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The exact date of the hike (the Allgaeuer Zeitung of 4 September 2025 says the previous week).","The hikers' prompts and ChatGPT's replies.","The hikers' own account; only the rescue service is quoted."],"geography":{"basis":"The reports place the event on the Schmalhorn in the Allgaeu Alps south of Oberstdorf, Bavaria, with the Bergwacht Oberstdorf responding. The hikers' residence is not stated.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["DE"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a chatbot-advice case: the Bergwacht Oberstdorf told the Allgaeuer Zeitung that two hikers followed a ChatGPT-planned route up the Schmalhorn from a side with no regular path, lost their way and had to be flown out by helicopter, one after a panic attack.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-27"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Bergwacht Oberstdorf, which carried out the rescue, told the Allgaeuer Zeitung that the hikers' route had been planned by ChatGPT and that it started from the Spielmannsau, where there is no regular ascent; the hikers lost their orientation on that terrain. The chatbot's route is therefore what led them off the marked path. The prompts and replies were not published.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Allgaeu: mountain rescue says two hikers who let ChatGPT plan a route up the Schmalhorn got lost off-trail and were flown out by helicopter","summary":"In late August 2025 two hikers climbing the Schmalhorn (1,953 m) in the Allgaeu Alps south of Oberstdorf, Germany, followed a route that ChatGPT had planned for them, according to the Bergwacht Oberstdorf mountain rescue service speaking to the Allgaeuer Zeitung. Instead of the usual marked ascent from Einoedsbach, the route started from the Spielmannsau, where, the rescue service said, there is no regular path, only an old hunters' track across several gullies. The two lost their orientation in that terrain and called for help about 100 metres below the summit. Rescuers climbed up to them; one had had a panic attack from the stress. Both were uninjured and were flown down to the valley by helicopter. The rescue service warned against using AI to plan mountain routes.","incidentDate":"2025-08-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-09-03","aiSystem":"ChatGPT, which according to the Bergwacht Oberstdorf, as reported by the Allgaeuer Zeitung, the two hikers used to plan their route up the Schmalhorn","aiProduct":"ChatGPT (reported)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the Bergwacht Oberstdorf, the two hikers lost their orientation in trackless terrain and needed a mountain-rescue callout and helicopter evacuation; one had a panic attack. Neither was injured.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":2,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two hikers (\"zwei Wanderer\", Allgaeuer Zeitung), whose route ChatGPT had planned; both are counted as users of the chatbot output. Who typed the request is not stated.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"DE","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.allgaeuer-zeitung.de/immenstadt/wanderung-allgaeu-planung-chat-gpt-route-bergwacht-einsatz-oberstdorf-schmalhorn-04-09-110685008","primarySourceLabel":"Allgaeuer Zeitung, 4 September 2025: hikers in the Allgaeu rely on ChatGPT and the mountain rescue has to turn out","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-27T03:09:13.602898+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-27T03:09:13.602898+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","trip-planning","hiking","mountain-rescue","allgaeu","communicated-with"]}]}