OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has sparked a wave of criticism after suggesting parents use the company's new ChatGPT Work product to generate personalised morning podcasts for their children during the drive to school.
In a post on X, Altman described what he called a "cool use case," suggesting parents connect their family calendars and explain their children's interests to ChatGPT.
He said the AI could then produce a daily podcast discussing topics such as a child's soccer game, an upcoming birthday and relevant news before the school commute.
'What if you just talked to your children?'
The suggestion quickly drew criticism on social media, most notably from Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch.
"What if you just talked to your children," Hirsch replied, in a post that quickly attracted significantly more engagement than Altman's original message.
By Saturday morning, Hirsch's response had received around 122,000 likes and 9,000 reposts, compared with roughly 9,600 likes and 300 reposts for Altman's original post.
Many users argued that AI should complement family life rather than replace everyday conversations between parents and children.
Part of a broader AI vision
Altman's comments reflect his long-standing view that artificial intelligence can play a meaningful role in parenting.
During an earlier appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he said he "could not imagine" raising a newborn without ChatGPT, while acknowledging that generations of parents had done so successfully without AI.
The proposal also echoes comments made last year by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who said he had stopped listening to his favourite podcasts during his commute and instead used an AI assistant to summarise their contents.
Growing focus on families
OpenAI has increasingly focused on products designed for families and parents.
The company recently advertised a product manager role centred on building trust-sensitive AI experiences for parents, while Meta is testing AI-powered tools capable of generating personalised bedtime stories.
