Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk drew attention online after responding to an artificial intelligence researcher who compared building a chatbot to parenting.

Musk later weighed in on the discussion.

“Those without children lack a stake in the future,” he wrote on X.

In follow-up replies in the same thread, Musk said Askell would not understand his perspective until she had a child. He compared that to someone who has “never experienced true love.”

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Building Claude’s Moral Framework

Askell told the Journal she worked on guiding Claude’s reasoning. “There is this human-like element to models that I think is important to acknowledge,” she said.

She compared the process to parenting, saying different inputs lead to different traits and that Claude is developing features that resemble a sense of self.

Social Media Reacts

“Nikola Tesla fathered no children and he changed the world more than you ever will,” an X user said.

“If moral authority depends on having children, does that mean childless scientists, teachers and leaders care less about the future?” a commenter asked.

“Does that mean every scientific breakthrough from childless inventors was just a hobby?” another commenter wrote.

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Askell Responds, Musk Doubles Down

Askell later addressed Musk‘s remarks and said she intends to have children.

“I still feel like I have a strong personal stake in the future because I care a lot about people thriving, even if they’re not related to me,” Askell said.

She said parenting can create a profound sense of investment.

Musk referenced Askell’s ex-husband, Oxford philosopher William MacAskill, a co-founder of the effective altruism movement. He said MacAskill offered to help draft a constitution for Grok, the AI chatbot from xAI, but he declined.

“Constitutions should not be written by hypocrites,” Musk said.

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