Having children is no longer the goal of societies in highly developed countries like Japan. In this country, people are increasingly choosing to be childless. They don’t even care about sex, 40% of Japanese singles ages 18 to 40 have never had sex. Young people do not want to get involved in a relationship that is full of compromises and sacrifices that often lead to failure and divorce.
In addition, climate change and overpopulation of the planet are not encouraging for people to bring children into this world, putting even more strain on the planet.
I think we should have children, but not in their natural form. I propose to have a MetaBørn (Meta Children) based on the genes and traits of the parents and powered by Artificial Intelligence. Meta children would grow up like their biological peers. Thanks to smartphones, AR glasses or AR contact lenses, they would accompany us every step of the way and encourage interaction, which would be particularly important for lonely people. Children would learn from us and remember our narratives and history that would be a source of entertainment in the future, especially in old age. Such a child would always have time for their parents and take care of them until the end of their days. Close contact would have positive effects on well-being and mental health. After many years of communication with the parent, the information gathered, such as memories, speaking or thinking styles, could be used along with DNA to recreate the parent after death and give them a new life alongside their child in the metaverse.
MetaBørn is based on the genetic code of one or any number of people who want to become parents. The child cannot be adapted, it is as if it were biologically created from the genetic sequence of the parent, a pool of random mutations and, in addition, from information from the interview.
You can contact MetaBørn via chat or verbally. Thanks to AR lenses or AR glasses, we can establish natural contact. When we use lidar in a room, MetaBørn can interact in the room by avoiding furniture and sitting on a chair to play chess. Thanks to the open API, you can play WoW online with your child, for example, or take a photo in your favorite application that your child is in.
I think that such a model of parenting could not only be applied in highly developed societies where loneliness is a major problem.
I realize that this is a rather controversial idea that deviates from human roots and which many people find immoral. But is it moral to send children to an overpopulated planet on the verge of ecological catastrophe in the name of instinct gratification?
In addition, I believe that with this solution we will reach a new stage of civilization and leave behind our animal roots.