I remember reading a travel thing a long time ago (before gps was a thing).

They cautioned that in some cultures, if you asked for directions, people would rather be polite/helpful and give you an answer rather than saying "I don't know" and giving you no answer. (They recommended that you ask more than one person to be more certain you were getting good directions)

In other cultures they were more likely to say "I don't know" at the cost of seeming more impolite.

So, we don't know the intent. :)