OpenAI boss Sam Altman has found himself on the receiving end of a brutal internet roasting after suggesting parents turn to artificial intelligence to help understand their children.
The 39-year-old tech mogul – who co-founded the multibillion-dollar company behind ChatGPT – raised eyebrows after posting a suggestion on how parents could navigate the tricky, emotional world of raising kids.
Taking to social media platform X, Mr Altman made a suggestion that left many parents scratching their heads.
“Connect your family calendars and explain your kids’ interests,” Mr Altman wrote to his audience.
“Every morning for the drive to school, have it make a podcast that talks about one kid’s soccer game that afternoon, one kid’s upcoming birthday, some news, etc.”
The response was as swift as it was unforgiving.
Within minutes, the comment section erupted with fed-up parents and critics offering the Silicon Valley pioneer a collective reality check – reminding him that a low-tech, time-tested solution already exists.
‘Just talk to your kids’
Over 1000 people flocked to the reply section to point out what many described as a mind-boggling level of detachment from the reality of parenting.
“What if you just talked to your children?” Alex Hirsch, the American animator behind television series Gravity Falls, asked Mr Altman.
“Or the parents could just have a conversation with the kids about those things,” another person pointed out.
“Children’s affairs require careful attention, and your current models cannot match children’s creative thinking,” echoed a third.
“Or….. hear me out. You could just talk to your child and actually be interested,” another expressed.
“Have you considered talking to them yourself after having personally taken the time and care to find out about and form your own opinions about their interests?” one person questioned.
Others took personal aim at the billionaire CEO.
“Or you could be an actual parent instead of having AI summarise your kids for you, you absolute sociopath,” one X user wrote.
“Are you serious? It’s an actual harm to society that you have the influence that you have. Zero concept of reality,” a second commented.
“Kids aren’t stupid. This is not the right vibe, Sam,” another user claimed.
Despite the backlash, there were a select few who agreed with Mr Altman’s sentiment.
“I’m doing something similar with my teenage boys. Codex runs a job to grab stats from prior games and gives a custom ELO score/projection for upcoming games. The boys love it, and it’s been a great way to introduce them to AI,” one person wrote.
“When I have kids, I will be doing something like this,” another commented.
A growing trend of tech-outsourcing
Mr Altman, who welcomed his first child via surrogate with husband Oliver Mulherin earlier this year, has long touted the revolutionary potential of artificial intelligence across every facet of human life.
From writing code and diagnosing illnesses to replacing office jobs, OpenAI has positioned its products as essential tools for the future.
However, the backlash to Mr Altman’s post highlights a growing boundary for everyday consumers: the line between useful automation and emotional detachment.
Child psychologists and parenting experts have frequently warned against relying on screens and algorithms to mediate parent-child relationships, emphasising that non-verbal cues, mistakes, and face-to-face connection are crucial for emotional development.
Despite the heavy ratio in his replies, Mr Altman has not yet deleted the post or responded to the wave of criticism.
It seems, for now, internet users agree: when it comes to raising kids, no prompt is going to replace a parent’s touch.