What to Know
Lots of people are rolling their eyes after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman spoke about using ChatGPT, which was developed by his company, to navigate parenting. Surely, Sam is not the only parent who has asked ChatGPT parenting questions, but obviously, people have also managed to raise kids without the help of any AI tools. Meanwhile, during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Sam suggested that the idea of being a new parent without a resource like ChatGPT actually seemed impossible.
Sam called ChatGPT ‘a general purpose life advisor.’
Understandably, many people have concerns when it comes to relying on ChatGPT. In particular, parents have worried about their kids relying on the chatbot for mental health advice. But given that Sam is Open AI’s CEO, he had lots of positive things to say about ChatGPT.
Sam and his husband, Oliver Mulherin, welcomed their first child in February 2025. Jimmy Fallon asked Sam if he uses ChatGPT to raise his baby. In response, Sam said, “I do. I mean, I feel kind of bad about it because we have this kind of genius level at everything intelligence sitting there, like waiting to unravel the mysteries of humanity, and I’m like, ‘Why does my kid stop dropping his pizza on the floor and laughing?'”
People found his comments embarrassing for a completely different reason though.
Sam explained that he’s kind of embarrassed that the questions he’s asking ChatGPT aren’t “good enough” given what the chatbot is capable of. Then, he said, “I cannot imagine having gone through figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT.”
Though he did add that “clearly people did it for a long time, no problem,” people couldn’t get over the fact that he actually said that. Even Jimmy couldn’t stop himself from laughing at the comment. After Jimmy laughed, Sam added, “Clearly, it was possible” and Jimmy, still amused, said, “Yes, it was possible.”
Sam went on to say that as a parent, he has “relied on [ChatGPT] so much.” But people pointed out that parenting resources have existed long before ChatGPT, and people have been raising kids without chatbots for ages.
“He could ask other people or read a book or two on parenting,” one person on Reddit wrote. “That’s all chat is doing anyways… Just giving him the cliff notes.” Another person added, “In the days before AI, we just read a book and looked in the index or table of contents. Or we talked to other parents.” Others argued that “AI is frequently wrong,” so trusting it with something as important as parenting seems dangerous.
But some people defended him.
After all, parenting is challenging. Some parents see nothing wrong with using ChatGPT as a resource. “If you have a baby problem or worry, you can ask ChatGPT and they will give you a (usually right) answer,” one person wrote in Sam’s defense, adding that it can be a helpful resource for “nervous new parents” who are seeking answers. Others remained firmly anti-AI and said new parents can Google these things instead.
