Dad Enlists AI to Help Deal With Daughter Who ‘Only Listens to Her Mommy’

A tech-savvy dad struggling with a young daughter who only listens to her mom around the house hit upon a unique solution.

Jay Wey, a former professional basketball player turned tech entrepreneur, is the first to admit that his young daughter “only listens to her mommy.”

That’s especially true when it comes to seemingly simple tasks like putting on a jacket. “Sometimes, if I bribe her with the right object, I can get her to put on a jacket,” Wey told Newsweek. “The objects can be as random as an empty carton of milk or a credit card. But, otherwise, it is very difficult.”

However, Wey hit upon an unconventional workaround with his daughter involving the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

There is no doubt that many are concerned about the advent of AI, especially parents. A February 2024 poll of 800 U.S. adults conducted by Barna on behalf of the software company Gloo found that 72 percent of parents were concerned about AI’s impact on children and teens.

The study found that 25 percent of parents polled strongly agreed with the notion that their child using AI “could negatively impact their ability to think for themselves.” Despite this, many were not actively trying to learn more about AI, with just 17 percent agreeing with the statement: “I actively seek out information and resources to better understand AI technologies.”

Wey is something of an outlier, though, having happily embraced AI as a way of simplifying his everyday life. “My brother has an AI startup called Genfin, which specializes in AI for e-commerce, and we are always talking about new AI applications and cool, new AI companies,” he said. “AI is not hype. The value and use cases are very real.”

As someone who likes to always lean into AI for ideas and inspiration, Wey thought little of turning to it for help in coaxing his young daughter to do what he wanted.

Realizing that his daughter was also susceptible to colorful online videos, he used the Invideo AI app to clone his wife Sharon’s voice. He then wrote out a simple text prompt that was turned into a clip of her instructing their daughter to put on a coat.

Wey said it “took about five minutes” to put the clip together. “For the Invideo AI, you need a 30-second sound byte of your target’s voice,” he added. “They also need to say specific keywords that express permission.”

Though he said that the whole thing was extremely easy to do, he did have some slight concerns, adding that, in the wrong hands, he “could see a lot of people using it for harmful activities.”

However, in the context of parenting, Wey sees AI as another way of helping moms and dads today. In fact, he said that many parents are probably benefiting from AI without even realizing it.

“I Google a lot of things about parenting, and Google now has ‘overviews’ generated with the help of AI, which usually land at the top of your search results,” Wey said. “The overviews are supported by info from across the web and Google’s Knowledge Graph, a collection of info about people, places, and things.”

Though some may be hesitant, Wey added that he would also encourage fellow parents to explore the possibilities that AI presents.

“There’s no harm in gaining experience in using AI,” he said. “At the end of the day, still use your own discretion. It can save you a lot of time.”

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