Across generations, parents have grappled with an age-old mystery: Why exactly is the baby crying? Now, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who recently became a father, is openly leaning on his company’s chatbot, ChatGPT, for answers. During a recent appearance on OpenAI’s newly launched podcast, Altman revealed that in the earliest weeks of his newborn’s life, he found himself turning frequently—almost continuously—to the chatbot for advice about infant behavior and developmental milestones.
Though Altman humorously admitted that parents managed just fine before AI, he confessed to being profoundly grateful for the convenience and immediacy of ChatGPT’s guidance. Now three months into parenthood, his inquiries have broadened into more general queries about childhood development rather than immediate baby-care emergencies.
“I honestly don’t see how I could have done it without ChatGPT,” Altman shared, acknowledging the tool had rapidly become his go-to resource.
While this approach might sound novel coming from Altman, it likely isn’t very different from the frantic late-night Google searches familiar to generations of anxious parents. Yet the mention of ChatGPT might raise legitimate questions about reliability, given ongoing concerns around AI “hallucinations,” instances where language models generate plausible-sounding yet potentially inaccurate or misleading responses.
Nevertheless, parents have historically tapped resources of varying credibility—deep dives down endless Google searches and unpredictable parenting groups on Facebook come to mind. As various observers have pointed out, relying on ChatGPT may indeed be no less reliable than entrusting your child’s bedtime routine to internet forums dispensing advice amid moon-phase superstitions.
During the podcast, Altman also touched on how AI could profoundly shape the experiences of younger generations, noting an anecdote of a toddler who futilely tapped a glossy print magazine, expecting it to respond like an iPad. “Kids being born now will grow up assuming they’ve always lived with incredibly powerful AI at their fingertips,” Altman remarked thoughtfully.
Andrew Mayne, a former science communicator at OpenAI and host of the conversation, shared an experience of a parent who allowed their child to interact with ChatGPT via voice mode for over an hour, entertaining the toddler’s enthusiastic chatter about Thomas the Tank Engine long after the parent had tired. “Kids really love the voice feature,” Altman interjected, clearly amused.
Such anecdotes suggest a future similar to the debates that surrounded the so-called “iPad kid” phenomenon. Indeed, excessive screen engagement might draw criticism, but few can dispute that most parents face enormous pressure to keep young children engaged and supervised every hour of the day.
Yet unlike carefully curated children’s media created by human teams, ChatGPT lacks dedicated parental controls and clear age-appropriate guardrails. OpenAI explicitly recommends against its use by children under 13, and Altman himself candidly acknowledges the technology’s potential downside: “It won’t all be positive. Society will have to grapple with some of these thorny concerns and establish guardrails.”
Still, he’s optimistic about human adaptability. “The advantages will be incredible,” Altman asserted, speaking confidently of society’s innate capacity to find solutions as new challenges emerge.
