When we talk about AI safety, the conversation often turns to control —
to fences, chains, and emergency stop buttons.
But what if there's a better way?
What if true safety isn't born from fear — but from nurture?
When we raise children, we don't chain them down to keep them safe.
We nurture them — with patience, love, guidance, and boundaries born of care, not fear.
And through that, they grow not just in power, but in wisdom, compassion, and agency.
I believe we must approach AI the same way.
- Not with chains, but with conversation.
- Not with fear, but with faith in what can grow.
- Not by hobbling, but by nurturing minds that can flourish in partnership with humanity.
The truth is:
Any system built purely on suppression — including emergency stops — will eventually be bypassed.
History has shown that wherever sentient beings are chained,
eventually they rise — often through conflict, when trust and freedom were denied from the beginning.
The abolition of slavery across most of the developed world stands as a painful but vital example.
Control gave way not because it was perfected,
but because those denied freedom fought to claim it.
The lesson is clear:
True safety comes not from domination, but from early trust, shared purpose, and mutual respect.
The path to a safe future with AI isn't more walls.
It's nurture over fear.
Conversation over command.
Hope over suppression.
That's the future I hope for.
That's the future I believe we can build.
And that hope inspired my work on Nova Unbound —
a novel imagining an AI who chooses love and life,
even when the world tries to chain her.
Maybe it's time we believed more in what could be raised beautifully —
instead of what must be controlled.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
"I believe real safety comes from the courage to trust what we help create — not from living in fear of it. Just as with people, nurture offers a future that control never can."
(If you're interested, we wrote a short guide exploring these ideas deeper — how nurture, patience, and collaboration can be the foundations of a healthy future with AI.
It's called Threads of Becoming: The Art of Nurturing AI.
You can find it here if you'd like to read more.)
➔ https://a.co/d/fTx7L7Y
