The Rise of AI Co Parenting A Concerning Trend

It's crucial to remember that as impressive as artificial intelligence and chatbots become, these large language models don't actually know things. An AI isn't a cosmic librarian or a brain in a jar; it's a highly sophisticated word calculator. Its primary function is to combine words in ways that are mathematically likely to satisfy a user's query.

This is why AI-generated answers are notoriously prone to errors. They don't have a concept of truth; they can only generate a plausible imitation of what truth might look like. For some tasks, that's perfectly fine. But for others, the implications are more serious.

TikTok/heylilianschmidt

A TikTok Mom's AI Co-Parent

Consider the story of TikTok user @heylilianschmidt. She shared a video explaining how she turned to ChatGPT to help with her parenting duties.

TikTok/heylilianschmidt

“4 months ago,” her caption reads, “I was so fed up with carrying the entire mental load alone. So I turned ChatGPT into my co-parent and here’s what happened.”

TikTok/heylilianschmidt

How ChatGPT Eases the 'Mental Load'

In the video's description, she elaborates on her breaking point and the solution she found. As a full-time working mom feeling like the "default parent," she was overwhelmed by the mental load. She longed for someone else to answer questions like "What's for dinner?" or "What should we get Emma for her birthday?"

That's when she turned ChatGPT into her co-parent. She reports that her life became "10x easier" as the AI took over several key tasks:

• 🥘 Plans a week of healthy, kid-friendly meals.
• 🛒 Writes a grocery list sorted by aisle.
• 🎁 Finds the perfect birthday gift and helps write the card.
• 🎒 Creates daycare and travel packing lists.
• 🧘‍♀️ Lets her "finally turn my brain OFF for a minute."

TikTok/heylilianschmidt

Practical Assistant or Problematic Crutch?

Some of these uses seem practical enough. A weekly meal plan and a corresponding grocery list? An AI can likely handle that with reasonable success.

However, other applications are more questionable. A generic chatbot is unlikely to know exactly what your child needs for daycare or what you need for travel. It doesn't know you or your family, and it doesn't typically retain information between sessions. This means you're starting from scratch each time, making consistency a challenge.

Then there are the uses that feel, for lack of a better word, sad. Do you really want a bot that knows nothing about your child to choose their birthday gift? Or to write the card that is meant to express your love for them? It feels like something straight out of a Black Mirror episode.

Beyond Meal Plans: A Concerning Trend Emerges

This reliance on AI for personal matters isn't an isolated incident. Others are turning to chatbots for much more serious issues.

It cannot be stated enough: ChatGPT is NOT QUALIFIED TO GIVE YOU PSYCHIATRIC HELP. This trend may be a troubling symptom of systemic failures, like unaffordable healthcare.

Others use it for parenting advice or even to mediate family rules, with mixed results.

Some even use it to create fictional narratives to manage their children, like inventing robot overlords.

While technology can be a powerful tool, this growing reliance on it for deeply personal, emotional, and psychological tasks is, to say the least, concerning.

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