Kelly Corrigan Wonders Go To on Whether We're Still Human if Robots Raise our Babies
Oct 31, 2025
Sarah Blaffer-Hrdy, an evolutionary anthropologist renowned for her insights into human caregiving, explores the implications of AI in parenting. She discusses how infants instinctively attach to responsive caregivers, raising concerns about AI becoming primary attachments. Sarah delves into shared care's role in our evolution and warns that technology may erode essential human traits like empathy and cooperation. The conversation prompts reflection on whether future generations raised by AI will retain their capacity for caring about others.
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Other-Regarding Evolution Defines Humans
- Sarah Blaffer Hrdy argues humans evolved to be intensely other-regarding because shared child care enabled survival and bigger brains.
- Early social responsiveness shaped neural circuits for mutual understanding that define our species' cooperative nature.
Alloparents Enabled Human Survival
- Hrdy explains mothers needed help from allo-mothers to rear slow-maturing, costly human infants during harsh Pleistocene conditions.
- Shared provisioning and care co-evolved with larger brains and social cognition in our ancestors.
Weigh Tech Use In Early Childcare
- Recognize that technology fills gaps when kin support is scarce, but weigh developmental costs before outsourcing care to devices.
- Prioritize social engagement in early childhood rather than full replacement by robots or screens.
