California Tech Dad Dragged for Suggesting AI Read to His Newborn Instead of Him

A San Francisco software engineer learned the hard way that some things shouldn’t be automated. Alvin Sng, who works at AI lab Factory, posted on X that he could train a voice model to read to his newborn instead of reading himself. His caption read“Parenting hits different when you work in AI.”The post is now deleted, but the internet’s receipts are forever.

The backlash was immediate. Finance professional Andrew Lynch and Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff for Rep. Don Beyer, were among the loudest critics, with Fritschner calling the moment bleak. Sng eventually responded with“Ok, enough jokes for a while. I’ll go back to reading bedtime stories for now.”The whole saga landed during a broader cultural moment of AI fatigue, especially around kids.

The debate isn’t really about one dad and one post. It’s about where we draw the line between convenience and connection. Reading to a baby is about the sound of your voice and the time you spend, not the story itself. No model can replicate that. So what do you think: is using AI for story time a harmless shortcut or a sign we’re outsourcing too much? Sound off in the comments.