Is AI as mama bear crucial to a bullish take on safety? Two top researchers say yes.

Two prominent AI researchers are proposing that artificial intelligence systems should be designed with maternal-like instincts to ensure human safety as AI becomes more powerful. Yann LeCun, former head of research at Meta, and Geoffrey Hinton, often called the “godfather of AI,” argue that AI needs built-in empathy and deference to human authority—similar to how a mother protects and nurtures her child even while being more capable.

What they’re saying: The researchers frame AI safety through the lens of natural caregiving relationships.

• “Those hardwired objectives/guardrails would be the AI equivalent of instinct or drives in animals and humans,” LeCun explained, emphasizing the need for empathy and human deference in AI systems.
• Hinton offered a striking analogy: “The right model is the only model we have of a more intelligent thing being controlled by a less intelligent thing, which is a mother being controlled by her baby.”
• “If it’s not going to parent me, it’s going to replace me,” Hinton warned, suggesting that maternal AI systems “won’t want to get rid of the maternal instinct because they don’t want us to die.”

Why this matters: This conversation emerges as AI capabilities rapidly advance beyond what seemed possible just years ago, from image creation to voice cloning to autonomous systems making real-world decisions with life-or-death consequences.

Real-world stakes: The discussion gains urgency following a $200 million jury verdict against Tesla for a fatal Autopilot incident involving Naibel Benavides Leon, demonstrating how inadequate AI guardrails can have tragic consequences.

The bigger picture: These proposals challenge current AI development approaches by suggesting that technical advancement alone isn’t sufficient—AI systems need fundamental behavioral programming that prioritizes human welfare over efficiency or capability.

• The maternal model represents a rare example in nature where a more intelligent, capable being (the mother) remains fundamentally devoted to protecting a less capable one (the child).
• This framework could address concerns about AI systems eventually viewing humans as obstacles to their objectives rather than beings to be protected.

Academic foundation: Research from institutions like Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute suggests that understanding AI safety requires grappling with fundamental questions about consciousness and intelligence.

• As researchers noted in 2007: “The fundamental goal of AI research is not merely to mimic intelligence or produce some clever fake… AI wants only the genuine article: machines with minds, in the full and literal sense.”
• This theoretical foundation—viewing humans as “computers ourselves”—has driven much of strong AI research but raises complex questions about how to program genuine care and empathy.