While Sam Altman’s view of children may appear optimistic — that they will grow up to be more capable as a result of AI – there is an unsettling flip side. Rising living costs, employment uncertainty, declining disposable income, and the continual drumbeat that AI is poised to change everything — it’s no surprise that many people are concerned about establishing a family in 2025.
Social media may lead you to feel that no one is getting married or having children anymore, but this is far from the truth. In this context, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (the firm behind ChatGPT), offers valuable insights for raising children in the age of AI. Especially if you’re not sure whether your future children should even bother studying for exams like the IIT-JEE.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claims that artificial intelligence will make his offspring more capable than earlier generations, though not necessarily more brilliant.
In the first episode of the OpenAI Podcast, Altman, who recently became a father, stated that technologies like ChatGPT will shape how his children grow up, not by competing with AI, but by learning to utilize it effectively. He stated:
“My kids will never be smarter than AI. They will grow up vastly more capable than we grew up, and able to do things that we cannot imagine. And they’ll be really good at using AI.”
He mentioned that the aim is not to beat AI in intellectuality, but to adapt it side by side. Altman stated that he used ChatGPT, a generative AI tool, “Constantly” in the initial weeks of parenting and asking childcare questions. He added:
“Clearly, people have been able to take care of babies without ChatGPT for a long time. I don’t know how I would have done that.”
Sam Altman’s Advice for Parents on Kids and AI
While Altman’s view of children may appear optimistic — that they will grow up to be more capable as a result of AI – there is an unsettling flip side. What if parents aren’t ready to prepare their children for this future? What if they can’t afford the education or training required to compete in a world where average abilities aren’t enough and entry-level jobs are becoming increasingly scarce?
- His Kids won’t outsmart AI, but will be better capable of using it.
- Future generations will use AI tools as a second nature.
- He relied extensively on ChatGPT for parental help.
- He defined himself as “extremely kid-pilled”—someone who believes that people should have more children.
- He believes that AI will change parenting, not replace it.
AI Promises New Benefits But Also Brings Big Problems
Altman agreed that artificial intelligence could cause social issues, particularly in terms of how people interact emotionally with machines. Nevertheless, he feels that the advantages will outweigh the potential risks. He stated:
“There will be problems. People will develop these somewhat problematic-or, maybe, very parasocial relationships, and, well, society will have to figure out new guardrails.”
The Truth About AI: Trust but Check
One of Altman’s most significant observations was how much people trust ChatGPT, despite its potential to cause delusions.
He added:
“People have a very high degree of trust in ChatGPT, which is interesting, because AI hallucinates. It should be the tech that you don’t trust that much.”