She’s tech-ing a break from burnout.
Even with an in-person partner, Lilian Schmidt was sick of shouldering the mental load of motherhood.
So, she’s trained ChatGPT to become a second mommy — tasking it to draft shopping lists, create meal plans, plan birthdays and vacations, and revolutionize bedtime.
“I’ve built my own bot to be our co-parent,” Schmidt, 33, a corporate brand strategist, based in Zurich, Switzerland, told SWNS.
“I use it to make me a better mom,” bragged the blond, who heavily leans on artificial intelligence for help raising and wrangling her three-year-old daughter. “I’d never go back.”
And why would she? It’s a parenting throuple that really clicks.
The millennial is in the majority of overtaxed mamas plagued by burnout.
It’s the stress, anxiety and fatigue of rearing tots that afflicts an eye-popping 57% of US moms and dads, per a recent study from Ohio State University.
Over-fried folks, like Schmidt, are now turning to AI for parenting pointers, be it healthcare how-to’s or bedtime storytelling.
Experts have lauded large language models, such as ChatGPT, with making parenting “easier,” owing to its “ability to ideate and just be creative.”
Schmidt agrees.
“I never let it make decisions, but I always [ask] it for advice,” she said of her computerized co-parent, insisting, however, that the bot does not usurp the role of her human honey.
“Our life is so busy,” explained Schmidt. “The mental load is a lot.”
“My partner is very involved with the kids and does his fair share,” she added of her 35-year-old fella. “[But] our brains work differently. He’s a doer and takes on the planning.”
“I do the thinking,” Schmidt, who’s also a stepmom to a 14-year-old boy, “that mental load falls on me.”
And it’s the heaviest during early evening hours. After signing-off from her 9-to-5, she finds herself “at my lowest energy,” but still forced to perform.
“5: 00 p.m. has become the busiest time because I’m racing back from work and I pick up an overwhelmed, overstimulated toddler,” whined Schmidt. “At the same time I’ve got to get dinner ready…it becomes overwhelming.”
“Before kids I could sit on the sofa [and] relax a little bit.”
The overworked woman began relying on ChatGPT for words of wisdom in February. But she wasn’t totally satisfied with its pat answers and unimaginative tips.
“I thought it would be nice if it started thinking like me,” said Schmidt. “I got into building bots, and got it to teach me to make a custom one.”
Now, with detailed prompts, the AI-assistant spits out tailor-made support.
“I get it to act as an experienced toddler coach or a meal planner. I ask it to coach me through the process,” Schmidt said. “If I need it to plan my meals I’ll ask it to assume the role of a nutritionist for healthy kid-friendly meals.”
Once the family chows its grub, the bot helps the mom getting her super-hyper little one to go sleep, which has been a struggle since the girl was born.
“I asked ChatGPT to assume the role of a toddler therapist,” said Schmidt, “someone who understands their development.”
“I asked it ‘help me understand why bed time is hard for her.’”
“For the last nearly four years we’d been told, ‘She needs to relax, calm down, nothing overstimulating,’” continued the mom. “But she’d never just lie down.
“ChatGPT told us she needs stimulating. Let her jump around on her bed,” Schmidt said. “We’ve never once had a power struggle again. There are no tears or fights anymore. Within five to 10 minutes she goes to bed.”
The high-wired helper also plies Schmidt with sweets suggestions for getting her daughter to play independently, coming up with easy activities that the child can enjoy while mom downs a cup of coffee in peace.
Its many benefits notwithstanding, Schmidt assures that ChaptGPT doesn’t replace therapy.
Instead, it simply gives her space to vent when mothering a busy baby becomes nearly unbearable.
“It helps me deal with my own emotions,” she gushed, confessing that her kid often “pushes” her buttons.
“[ChatGPT] is someone who will think for me,” she reemphasized. “It’s something that helps me make decisions and makes my life easier.”
“Our life is still not perfect — it’s still busy,” Schmidt conceded. “We still have tantrums but it’s so much better and so much easier.
Here is a list of Schmidt’s best ChatGPT parenting tips.
- Ask it to assume an expert role for what you’re asking it to do. Eg. Be a nutritionist to help me plan easy, kid friendly meals.
- Personalize it at the beginning and let it learn about you
- – Be mindful of how you use it – don’t give away any sensitive information you don’t want out there
- – Always seek out a professional for serious issues
- – Use ChatGPT for advice but make your own decisions
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