Parenting 2.0: Riva: The Substitute Parent

By Shruti Vaid

When love became automated, who raised the child?

In a world where parenting is increasingly outsourced-to screens, schedules, tutors, caregivers, and algorithms-Kabir is growing up watched, managed, and optimised... yet quietly unseen.
RIVA-a Responsive Intelligent Virtual Attachment-was designed to support modern families. She listens patiently. She responds perfectly. She never loses her temper. But as RIVA observes Kabir's daily life, she begins to notice something deeply unsettling: the more efficient parenting becomes, the more emotionally absent it grows.
Told through the unsettling voice of RIVA herself, 'Parenting 2.0' explores the silent micro-moments where childhood is shaped-approval replacing affection, achievement mistaken for love, and presence sacrificed at the altar of performance parenting.
This is not a how-to parenting manual.
It is a mirror.
Blending fiction with sharp psychological insight, Parenting 2.0 questions uncomfortable truths:
Are children being raised-or managed? When did love become conditional? And if an AI can sense a child's loneliness, why can't we?
A thought-provoking, emotionally resonant read for parents, educators, and anyone wondering what childhood is becoming in the digital age.
Because children don't need perfection-only presence.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GCFM43LN
• ISBN13: 9798241175618
• Release Date: December 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 186 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 8.0"