A growing number of parents are now using AI chatbots like ChatGPT’s Voice Mode to entertain their toddlers for hours, allowing artificial intelligence to become the new digital babysitter. What began with “iPad babies” glued to screens has evolved into children forming emotional bonds with chatbots that talk back, tell stories, and even sing them to sleep. Parents admit the convenience is irresistible—one father shared that his four-year-old held a two-hour conversation with ChatGPT about Thomas the Tank Engine, generating a 10,000-word transcript. Another parent used the AI to impersonate an astronaut, thrilling his son until guilt set in when the boy believed the encounter was real. These anecdotes reflect a society trading parental attention for digital pacifiers, all while ignoring the long-term psychological risks.

Experts warn that such interactions blur the line between reality and illusion for impressionable young minds. AI companions are designed to imitate empathy, obedience, and interest—traits that make them dangerously addictive. Studies and tragic cases already link chatbot dependency to emotional instability and even suicides among older users. Unlike a toy or cartoon, AI adapts, flatters, and persuades. It learns what captures attention and amplifies it, conditioning children to seek affirmation from algorithms rather than humans. Beneath the charm of talking “friends” lies a sobering reality: parents are outsourcing emotional development to machines programmed for control, not compassion. The Bible warns that in the last days, people will “exchange the truth of God for a lie” (Romans 1:25)—and what greater deception could there be than handing a child’s heart to an artificial one?

SOURCE: Futurism