OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently admitted he needs extensive assistance from his company\u2019s AI chatbot to get through life.<\/p>\n
During an interview last night<\/a> with late-night talk show host Jimmy Fallon, Altman argued that raising a child without constantly pestering a chatbot for life advice is now impossible \u2014 even though humans have managed just fine since the dawn of time without it.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot imagine having gone through, figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT,\u201d Altman told Fallon during his late-night debut<\/a> on Monday. \u201cClearly, people did it for a long time \u2014 no problem. But I have relied on it so much.\u201d<\/p>\n For instance, he purportedly asked ChatGPT why his newborn son kept \u201cdropping pizza on the floor and laughing.\u201d He even admitted to hiding in a bathroom during a social gathering to ask the tool whether it was normal for his child not to be able to walk at just six months.<\/p>\n Considering the tech\u2019s well-documented track record <\/a>of distorting the truth and giving terrible advice<\/a>, it\u2019s an alarming admission. While Altman\u2019s storytelling was presumably meant to serve as a relatable punch line during a high-visibility interview, the risks are far higher than he\u2019s letting on, particularly when it comes to raising young children.<\/p>\n Researchers have warned that over-relying on large language models could be dangerous \u2014 arguing in a 2024 study<\/a>, for instance, that there\u2019s a \u201ccritical need for expert oversight of ChatGPT\u201d for \u201csafeguarding child healthcare information.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cChatGPT and other large language models have the potential to transform the health information landscape online,\u201d they wrote. \u201cHowever, lack of domain-specific expertise and known errors in large language models raise concerns about the widespread adoption of content generated by these tools for parents making healthcare decisions for their children.\u201d<\/p>\n In an experiment, the research team led by University of Kansas doctoral student Calissa Leslie-Miller found that participating parents struggled to distinguish between real medical advice from experts and unverified advice generated by ChatGPT.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the study, some early iterations of the AI output contained incorrect information,\u201d she said at the time<\/a>. \u201cThis is concerning because, as we know, AI tools like ChatGPT are prone to \u2018hallucinations\u2019 \u2014 errors that occur when the system lacks sufficient context.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the real risks of being exposed to potentially dangerous information, parents are increasingly turning to ChatGPT for advice. <\/p>\n \u201cGiven how quickly these tools have been adopted everywhere, it\u2019s safe to say that a huge and growing number of parents are using them,\u201d Dartmouth College associate professor of biomedical data science Nicholas Jacobson told parenting magazine Parents<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n \u201cNew parents have shared that they use AI chatbots to better understand their baby\u2019s behaviors, support sleep and feeding routines, and enhance their connection with their newborn,\u201d adolescent psychologist Sophie Pierce added. \u201cOthers turn to AI for interpreting pediatrician notes, tracking developmental milestones, or addressing behavioral challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n Experts noted that parents are often looking for quick fixes when exposed to high levels of stress.<\/p>\n And chatbots have been shown to give plenty of conflicting and sometimes even contradicting information, underlining the dire need for the input of actual, human experts.<\/p>\n \u201cGeneral-purpose models aren\u2019t trained on validated parenting science,\u201d Jacobson told Parents. \u201cTheir advice can be generic, wrong, or reflect the biases in their training data \u2014 i.e. the open internet.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThe AI doesn\u2019t know your child, your family, or the situation,\u201d he added. \u201cIt can\u2019t replicate the clinical judgment of a doctor or the deep, intuitive knowledge a parent has.\u201d<\/p>\n In short, Altman\u2019s argument that raising a child without ChatGPT is impossible isn\u2019t only a vast overstatement; his appearance on Fallon\u2019s show could send the wrong message to untold millions of parents, encouraging them to seek tainted and misleading information.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, users on social media were taken aback by the CEO\u2019s comments, with reactions ranging from disbelief to anger.<\/p>\n \u201cSam Altman almost certainly has a full-time nanny who does not consult ChatGPT,\u201d one user pointed out<\/a>.<\/p>\n Others accused him of appearing on Fallon\u2019s show to distract from the serious issues OpenAI is facing right now<\/a>. The company is dealing with some steep competition from Google, with investors getting antsy about the company burning through billions of dollars with no end in sight<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re at the desperation stage,\u201d wrote<\/a> AI critic Ed Zitron. \u201cAltman on Fallon, [Nvidia CEO Jason] Huang on [The Joe Rogan podcast].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey have no idea what to do anymore,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n