Kelly Corrigan

Why does this feel the most urgent topic?

That's Chris Anderson, head of TED, in a conversation we had earlier this year.

Now, I am a person who always wanted to be a mom.

That was the number one thing that I wanted.

And

It's the only thing I really, really care about and think is really important.

I think all the rest is something else, but it's not essential the way that this work feels to me, thus my TED talk.

And so I said to Chris and Helen, if their question is in a modern world, what's a human for?

My question is in a modern world, what's a parent for?

And they were all over it.

It was like big thumbs up right from the get-go.

And then I was off to the races.

But before I tell you more about all of the questions and ideas you're going to hear this week, I want to share my TED Talk with you so you can get a better sense of where I was coming from when I started.

As you listen to this talk, you'll see that I hold real live people parents in the highest regard.

But I'm also grown up enough to know that not every parent is doing such a great job.

And in those cases, I do wonder, how could AI participate in these brave moments that make family life click?

This is for my mom, even though when I called her to say, hey, have you heard of TED, T-E-D, she said, oh my God, Kelly, it's not another virus, is it?

As a 21-year-old, I was drawn to the word brave.

I had a soft spot for ripping yarns and the people who could tell them.

So, odyssey on the brain, I went out adventure collecting.