Lilian Schmidt, a brand consultant from Zurich, could not get her 3-year-old daughter to sleep despite advice from sleep experts and pediatricians. Desperate, she turned to ChatGPT. The advice it offered—more stimulation like chewing gum or jumping on a trampoline before bed—worked within minutes. "I was freaking out," she said. "I was like, 'Oh my God, nobody was able to help me except ChatGPT.'"
Schmidt is part of a new wave of momfluencers who pitch AI as a better coparent. In June 2025, her TikTok video titled "I Turned ChatGPT into my coparent" went viral, swelling her follower count to 27,000 in three weeks. She created a custom GPT called Coparent and sells access for $37 on her website. Her content promotes prompts and handbooks for moms who want "a coparent who never forgets the sunscreen or asks you to write things down." Notably, her longtime partner is largely absent from her videos—a reflection of the real-world imbalance in domestic labor.
The Unpaid Labor Gap
This trend is rooted in persistent gender disparities. According to a 2022 Department of Labor survey, employed mothers spend an extra 13.5 hours per week on chores and 12.5 hours per week on childcare—a 40% increase from 1975. While Pew data shows fathers now spend more than twice as much time on chores and childcare as 50 years ago, women still shoulder the majority of household burden. Schmidt told WIRED that invisible labor takes time away from her kids, and AI helps her "be more present" and "emotionally regulated."
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Extra weekly chores (employed mothers) | 13.5 hours | U.S. Department of Labor, 2022 |
| Weekly childcare (employed mothers) | 12.5 hours | U.S. Department of Labor, 2022 |
| Increase in motherhood labor since 1975 | 40% | U.S. Department of Labor, 2022 |
| AI gender gap (women less likely to use gen AI) | >20% | 2025 study |
The AI Gender Gap
Despite the utility, women are more than 20% less likely to use generative AI in everyday life than men, according to a 2025 study—a discrepancy called the "AI gender gap." Stephanie Leblanc-Godfrey, founder of Mother AI and a self-described "maternal technologist," attributes this to a "PMS" problem: AI tools are "pale, male, and stale." She said, "You have all these people running these AI companies that actually don't reflect the society that's using them, or the needs of moms, who tend to be the heads of households."
Erin Grau, cofounder of the research and corporate training company Charter, speculates that working mothers may shy away from AI due to "mom guilt"—viewing dependence on AI as cheating. This reluctance could stall enterprise adoption if products are not designed inclusively.
Implications for Enterprise Technology
For enterprise leaders—CTOs and digital transformation officers—the momfluencer trend offers a cautionary tale. If AI tools fail to address the needs of women, who often manage household logistics and may also oversee supply-chain or administrative workflows at work, enterprises risk leaving a significant user base behind. The same biases that make consumer AI "pale, male, and stale" can seep into enterprise products, from supply-chain management platforms to HR tools. Designing AI that accounts for diverse cognitive loads and invisible work is not just a consumer issue—it is a business imperative. As Schmidt's story shows, when AI meets real-world needs, adoption skyrockets. The task for enterprise developers is to ensure their solutions are as responsive as a custom GPT for a weary parent.
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