If AI Can’t Find Auchterarder, What Hope Have the Rest of Us
A defence of paper maps, pencils, and knowing where Methven is without a chatbot.

A folded map, trustworthy. Photo: Himesh Kumar Behera thehopefultraveller, “Top view of a compass on a map (Unsplash)”, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0
An AI map moved our towns about like fridge magnets. I am not angry. I am exhausted.
Auchterarder is where we left it. Bridge of Earn has not eloped with Errol. Methven is not a gateway to Kenmore, however lovely that sounds for tourism brochures.
Until further notice I shall navigate by the sun, the Tay, and asking a bus driver.
The real story: Council AI map apology (The Courier, 27 Oct 2026)
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