According to a new San Francisco father, “parenting hits different when you work in AI.”
Alvin Sng, a software engineer at AI company Factory, went viral for his AI-infused parenting technique—but not in a good way. In his since-deleted post, Sng said that when his wife asked him to read their newborn baby a book, he replied, “I can just play an audiobook from my phone.”
When she objected that the story wouldn’t be in his voice, Sng said he could simply train an AI model to read to their baby in his voice.
Though Sng presented the story as a positive, the internet didn’t agree. Sng’s post quickly went viral, garnering 4.5 million views and nearly as many critiques before its deletion.
‘A cancer of the mind’: Social media weighs in
Sng’s post was immediately controversial, with some users sarcastically comparing his parenting to stereotypical tech bro attitudes. “Hating your children isn’t a mindset, it’s a grindset,” one poster wrote.
“There may be many serious downsides to the AI future we are building but at least it will allow us to spend less time with our loved ones,” joked another.
Others took Sng’s post more seriously, arguing that it reflects the misuse of AI in modern society. “This is a cancer of the mind,” one user wrote. “You could easily just read to your child instead of building an AI to do it for you. Some of you are rapidly abandoning the very things that give life its deepest joy and fulfillment.”
“You should save this tweet and circle back to it in 20 years when you’re confused about why your kid doesn’t talk to you anymore,” commented another.
Amid the discourse, Sng doubled down on his controversial parenting choice, replying to a commenter who said it sounded like Sng wasn’t interested in spending time with his child.
“I do want to spend time with my baby. There’s even a chance I’ll choose to retire early and spend all my time with my kids!” Sng wrote. “I’d just rather spend that time cuddling, feeding, and playing, and automate the things I don’t need to be around for.”
Eventually, Sng deleted his post, following up to say he’ll “go back to reading bedtime stories for now.”
AI’s place in parenting
Though Sng’s tech-heavy parenting received ridicule online, he’s far from alone in mixing AI with childcare.
Earlier this year, researchers at Lurie Children’s Hospital surveyed more than 1,000 American parents with children ages 17 and under on their AI usage. A whopping 81% of parents said they’ve used AI to help with parenting tasks, with 90% saying they believe AI makes parenting easier overall.
Nearly a third of parents (31%) also said they’ve followed AI advice over their own parental instincts. Of those parents, 30% said they were following AI’s advice about health and 26% said they took AI’s advice about emotional guidance.
Meanwhile, parents are more likely than the average adult to turn to AI for advice in general. According to YouGov polling, 39% of American parents with children under 18 have used AI to get advice on a personal matter, compared to just 25% of American adults overall. Among parents, 50% have used AI to get health advice and 34% have used it for help with homework.