Tourists Drive Rental Car Into Water Just Like That Scene On ‘The Office’
With all the fawning over artificial intelligence and ChatGPT we’re hearing lately, I feel like we all need a reminder that we have brains of our own and shouldn’t rely solely on technology to do our thinking. A perfect example of why this is true happened in Hawaii recently.
According to Hawaii News Now, two tourists driving to a manta ray excursion on Hawaii’s Big Island accidentally drove their SUV into a harbor off Kailua-Kona. Witnesses say they plunged into Honokohau Small Boat Harbor with their windows down. The passenger climbed out the open window and swam to safety. A sailboat crew had to jump in the water to pull the driver out of the SUV, then carry her up the boat ramp.
Thankfully, everyone is okay. The SUV? Not so much. It sank and had to be pulled out of the water by a tow crew. But why did this happen? The tourists were reportedly following GPS directions. Yup, just like that scene on “The Office.” The machine doesn’t always know. Let’s hope the tourists got the rental insurance.
Were the tourists momentarily distracted just before they drove into the water, or were they simply too trusting of the GPS directions like Michael Scott? Maybe they had one too many Mai Tais that day. In any case, it’s important to remember that computers can only do so much. Sometimes we have to be our own computers.