Have you read something on social media and thought to yourself, “This will be a headache for that person’s PR team!” or “Does everyone need access to a social media account?”
If you look hard enough, there is a new controversy posted online nearly every minute. Social media platforms thrive on engagement, and making people mad is a very easy way to get you to engage with them.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s recent attempt at furthering his own brand through weak sentimentality aimed at parents is a great example of such ragebait. The statement, posted on X, was the perfect mix of earnest and out of touch.
Altman’s post on X goes as follows: “cool use case of ChatGPT work i heard last night: connect your family calendars and explain your kids’ interests. 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.”
Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “Or you could just talk to your kid!”
A similar sentiment was stated in thousands of responses to Altman’s initial post. However, I don’t think Altman’s words can be relegated to just another halfhearted attempt at pitching artificial intelligence to families. While I don’t believe Altman’s remarks were inherently sinister, they are hinting at a scary notion—one that could have major ramifications for the way your family communicates.
Parental Pressure for an AI Push
First, the concept of relegating your car-time conversations with the kiddos to an AI doesn’t make a whole lot of practical sense. To get ChatGPT or any other chatbot to produce such a podcast would first require you to enter in accurate information on your children’s interests and schedules. You’ve already done the work to find out what they are interested in and to organize their schedules, so how would typing all that information into an AI generator save you any time?
Second, the question so many commentors were asking prevails: Why would you want time spent communicating with your kid to be delegated to someone—or in this case, something—else?
If tech giants are attempting to push AI into the home, it seems to be done so with the pretense of convenience. Do you want a quick and easy recipe for your family dinner? Okay, maybe ChatGPT can help with that. However, interacting with your own children during a daily commute shouldn’t feel like another menial task.
Frankly, the thought that AI could conveniently take those conversations off your plate is upsetting. Additionally, research shows that if your child becomes too accustomed to interacting with an AI chatbot, they may have a more difficult time developing crucial social skills and communicating with humans in the future.
Finally, many parents may not want an AI to know their kids’ exact interests and schedules. There are many potential privacy concerns involved, but giving an AI so much information about your family essentially allows it to mine data about you, to treat you as a commodity. It has been said before: If you’re not paying for a product, its likely you are the product.
The whole Altman controversy feels more akin to an out-of-touch businessman trying to push a product through misplaced sentimentality than to anything intentionally misleading. In this instance, it’s easy to see the post for what it is and move on—but parents must be aware that this is how AI will continue to be presented to families.
These companies want you to believe AI is necessary, that it’s convenient, that it will bring you closer to your loved ones. Future promotions for these products may get more tactful, more deceptive. (Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently outlined how the social media giant will continue to develop AI products, attempting to garner support for regular familial use by listing various ways he already uses AI agents to interact with his own family.)
It’s best to be aware, to know where your family stands and to prioritize genuine human connection over an unwieldy update in technology—even one that promises to be around for while.
Recent Comments