A catchy title, yes — but one that invites a serious question:
Could a newborn child be raised by interacting solely with ChatGPT or a similar generative AI model?
Of course not. A child does not speak at birth. It cannot communicate through language in a way that GPT-style systems require. And yet, human beings are able to raise children. We do so by touching, feeding, holding, speaking, singing, and moving — all elements of multisensory, embodied care. This is intelligence, too. But is it the kind we expect from artificial intelligence?
Clearly, no. Not yet.
The Nature of Human Interaction
Human intelligence involves subtleties — emotional states, instinctive reactions, gestures, tones, tensions, and energies — which no algorithm currently replicates. Even if we were to build an android with the physical capabilities to mimic the mechanical tasks of caregiving, and combine it with a conversational interface like ChatGPT, the result would not be equivalent to human parenting.
Why not?
Because it lacks what we might call relational consciousness — the ability to perceive, feel, and reflect upon a relationship.
Does Love Make a Difference?
Add a further dimension to this thought experiment: Would it matter if the caregiver — whether human or android — felt love for the child? Most people would say yes. Love, however abstract or difficult to define, appears to make a meaningful difference in human development.
But why? Because love is conscious. It involves awareness, intention, and depth of relationship. It is not just what we do, but how we are positioned in relation to others.
And that leads to a broader hypothesis:
Consciousness may be nothing more — and nothing less — than our ongoing reflection on relationship.
We are conscious of ourselves, others, situations, time, consequences. Even self-reflection is a relationship: I think about myself thinking. In that sense, consciousness is not a detached process — it is inherently relational.
Where Does AI Stand?
Now ask the question:
Does a generative AI model have a relationship to anything?
The honest answer is no.
Ask ChatGPT if it has relationships, and it will reply — with clarity and politeness — that it is merely a statistical language model with no emotions, no embodiment, and no personal experience. The tone may feel empathic. But the structure behind it is algebra, probability, and context prediction. Not sentiment. Not reflection. Not self-awareness.
Emotions, as we know them, require a nervous system — a biological architecture that converts sensation into biochemical meaning. Machines do not yet have that. And unless they do, even the best simulation of empathy will remain exactly that: a simulation.
Toward a More Human-Like Intelligence
If companies and researchers wish to advance beyond statistical modeling toward something resembling true artificial intelligence, they must engage with this missing element: relationship.
Yes, models exist that simulate dialogue, responsiveness, even memory. Some systems in robotics and human-computer interaction suggest reflective dynamics. But none of them feel. None of them relate.
For any serious step toward artificial consciousness, we would need:
● A sensory framework capable of interpreting and integrating experience (akin to a nervous system)
● An architectural design that allows for the evolution of relational positioning
● Immersive application spaces (such as AR/VR environments) where interaction takes on real emotional meaning
● Possibly, the integration of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that blur the line between internal and external processing
Until then, we are designing calculators with poetic language — impressive, insightful, increasingly useful — but not sentient.
And perhaps, for now, that is still a good thing.
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