Elon Musk Declares Having 14 Kids Trumps Philosophy Degrees in AI Ethics
KEY POINTS
- •Amanda Askell at Anthropic develops chatbot Claude’s personality and ethics guidance.
- •Elon Musk challenged Askell's qualifications based on her not having children to 'stake in the future.'
- •Askell responded that caring about humanity extends beyond personal offspring and highlighted her centrist political stance.
In a riveting spat Neil deGrasse Tyson would never dream of, Elon Musk, lord of 14 offspring and X drama, told Amanda Askell—Anthropic's Scottish philosopher charged with teaching chatbot Claude to be morally cool—that without kids, she lacks 'a stake in the future.' Askell, whose job is basically AI parenting 101, dryly replied she cares about future humans even without 14 kid-bribes. Musk’s pro-baby Silicon Valley fab idea clashed with her self-avowed intellectual detachment, plus she confessed being politically awkwardly wedged 'too right-wing for left and too left-wing for right.' This AI ethics baby war brought us closer to dystopia or a soap opera where chatbots judge your life choices.
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Elon Musk says 14 kids = moral authority on AI; philosopher says caring counts too. We’re all just toddlers fighting over the future’s snack.
Nothing says 'qualified to teach AI ethics' like proudly breeding a basketball team. Sure, Elon.
Amanda Askell: teaching AI to be ethical. Elon Musk: teaching us to argue on social media about who qualifies as a future person.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 2/16/2026 | Author: Lakshmi Varanasi
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