Sam Altman is getting dragged for suggesting this ChatGPT 'use case' for parents

Aug 02, 2026 01:24 AM - 1 hour ago 2

Sam Altman

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Sam Altman's conception of "cool" seems to disagree from the majority.

In his X profile, he says, for instance, that "AI is cool one guess," a connection pinch which galore would apt disagree. He besides fails to capitalize "i," which some deliberation is cool, but not all.

And erstwhile the OpenAI CEO shared what he called a "cool usage case" for ChatGPT connected X this week, the reception was not cool. It was cold.

"connect your family calendars and explicate your kids' interests," he wrote, successful lowercase, adding that it was not his ain thought but 1 he heard. "every greeting for the thrust to school, person it make a podcast that talks astir 1 kid's shot crippled that afternoon, 1 kid's upcoming birthday, immoderate news, etc."

The thought reflects a broader activity to usage AI to easiness the burdens of parenting — 1 that Altman has been promoting for adjacent to a twelvemonth now. Altman, who welcomed a boy pinch his husband, Oliver Mulherin, successful 2025, has said ChatGPT was indispensable during his first months arsenic a father.

For many, however, the thought of inserting AI into each infinitesimal of each day, and particularly successful those spent pinch children, didn't spell complete each that well.

"What if you conscionable talked to your children," Alex Hirsch, an animator who created the Disney kids show "Gravity Falls," wrote successful consequence to Altman's suggestion, which sewage 10 times the number of likes.

Hundreds of X users piled on. Another personification said, "using AI successful spot of existent quality relationship is the worst imaginable usage lawsuit for it."

That's a position OpenAI President Greg Brockman mightiness beryllium coming astir to, too. In his ain eyebrow-raising X station connected Saturday, he said that his labor don't for illustration it erstwhile ChatGPT asks them for things, moreover if they'd beryllium "perfectly happy doing the aforesaid work" if a coworker asked.

"reinforces really overmuch group attraction astir quality relationships and helping each other, and want AI to springiness clip backmost — aliases heighten clip together — alternatively than go a furniture separating people," he wrote, successful lowercase.

For parents who advocator utilizing AI to thief them parent, much clip is precisely what they opportunity they need. Hally Peck, a mother of two, told Business Insider that she uses an AI agent to negociate activity calendars, schoolhouse schedules, activities, birthdays, and childcare logistics.

"I person 2 kids, and my hubby besides useful full-time," she said. "We're some successful very demanding jobs, which intends clip is our astir captious resource."

Altman told Jimmy Fallon that he couldn't ideate "figuring retired really to raise a newborn without ChatGPT," which he said he utilized for questions astir developmental milestones and mundane childcare.

He has besides said his children will turn up "vastly much capable" because they will study to usage AI, moreover though they will "never beryllium smarter than AI."

Alexandr Wang, the 29-year-old Meta AI executive and Scale AI founder, has shared an moreover much utmost imagination of AI parenting. He's said he whitethorn wait to person children until brain-computer interfaces specified arsenic Neuralink go sufficiently advanced. He said he believes that children's neuroplasticity allows them to accommodate to exertion early and will yet deliberation alongside superintelligent systems.

Read next

More