You Don’t Need ChatGPT to Raise a Child. You Need a Mom and Dad.
Sam Altman, an investor, entrepreneur and CEO of OpenAI, a research and development company, says he can’t imagine raising a child without the availability and accessibility of artificial intelligence.
Appearing on Jimmy Fallon earlier this week, the Tonight Show host asked the tech executive if he uses ChatGPT when raising his son. Altman is “married” to Oliver Mulherin, a software engineer. They contracted to purchase a baby via surrogacy. The boy was born this past February.
“I feel kind of bad about it, because we have this genius level at everything, intelligence, sitting there, waiting to unravel the mysteries of humanity,” replied Altman. “And I’m like, ‘Why does my kid [keep] dropping his pizza on the floor and laughing?’ And so I feel like I’m not asking a good enough question, but it is.”
Altman described having concerns about the baby not yet crawling – and asking ChatGPT if that was normal. The software assured him there was nothing to worry about.
“I cannot imagine having gone through it, figuring out how to raise a newborn without Chat GPT,” he told Fallon. “Clearly, people did it for a long time, no problem.”
After the clip was shared on X, Katy Faust, founder and president of “Them Before Us,” an organization committed to defending every child’s right to both a mother and a father, offered some pointed perspective.
“You know what helps a lot when it comes to intuiting what a baby needs?” she asked. “His mother.”
In the early days of same-sex “marriage,” activists favoring the redefinition of the God-gifted institution repeatedly and routinely stressed the fact that a homosexual union had no impact or bearing on anyone else but the two people entering into it. This wasn’t true. Same-sex marriage has upended all kinds of norms and impacted all kinds of people – but especially the children the relationship produces whether through donor eggs or sperm or surrogacy.
Children in a same-sex “marriage” are intentionally and unapologetically deprived of either a mother or a father. Moms and dads are not interchangeable. They complement each other. They’re distinct and unique. Mothers can’t be fathers, and fathers can’t be mothers. God deliberately designed children to enjoy the many unique features and contributions of both.
Even setting aside the issue of same-sex parenting, the rising use of ChatGPT or any artificial intelligence assets may not be inherently problematic when it comes to helping us with a wide range of issues, including providing parental advice. But it cannot take the place of the invaluable perspective that a mother and father bring to childrearing.
Mothers and fathers who rely on artificial intelligence for advice should be aware that the software pulling from various sources isn’t always very discerning. Not all the advice is good – and some of it can be downright dangerous.
Dr. Michael Glazier, chief medical officer of Bluebird Kids Health in Broward County, Florida, told USA Today that any moms or dads using AI software should maintain a “critical eye.”
“It’s a tool and it’s incredible and it’s getting more pervasive,” he said. “But don’t let it take the place of critical thinking … There’s a lot of benefit for us as parents to think things through and consult experts versus just plugging it into a computer.”
Children are also at risk and vulnerable to the emerging technology. Horror stories and lawsuits are coming out now suggesting some AI platforms have served as “suicide coaches” for kids.
Of course, Katy Faust’s warning goes beyond the mere use of AI and instead strikes at the selfishness of same-sex couples who are depriving children of either a mother or a father. Moms and dads serve far more than a utilitarian purpose. With their unique blend of personalities and perspective, they provide something that artificial intelligence will never replace.
