Is everyone sick of talking about AI yet?

It’s been almost two years since ChatGPT became a publicly accessible AI tool, and since then the industry has blown up. We’ve seen AI startups come and go, constant discourse about whether or not AI is going to steal all of our jobs, and most recently, an AI-generated Coca Cola Christmas commercial has been making waves (and not in a good way).

Depending on who you ask, people are either completely apathetic to AI, terrified that it will take over the world, or convinced that the advent of AI is the best thing to happen to technology since Steve Jobs.

We don’t have the same strong feelings as many do about AI. But we are interested in understanding just what the invention and widespread adoption of AI chatbots in particular means for the sex therapy industry.

Using AI Chatbots as Therapists

Since 2020, feelings of loneliness and isolation have been widespread throughout the global population. This makes sense—many young people were forced out of their regular routines and away from their friends during the pandemic, and the return to “regular” life hasn’t been all that regular. Add social media, virtual school, and remote work into the mix, and you’ve got 1 in 3 Americans reporting feeling lonely every single week. In fact, loneliness is such a pervasive issue around the world that the government in Seoul is spending $327 million to help stop it.

All that is to say, people are lonely, and they are turning to AI chatbots for companionship and support. 

We already know that generative AI (like ChatGPT) has a tendency to be wrong, lie, and make up information. It can’t be used as a search engine (despite what Google might want you to think). Because, as of right now, it lacks the ability to filter the information that it is receiving and giving back to you. Everyone remember when Google’s AI was telling people that it was okay to eat rocks and use non-toxic glue to thicken your pizza sauce? AI is unreliable as a source of true information, but that doesn’t rule out its potential benefits as a therapeutic outlet.

The Benefits of AI in Sex Therapy

Personally, we believe that if AI is used correctly and with care, it can be a great tool for clinicians. It also seems like a viable option for people who can’t afford a therapist or clinician. Here are a few of the potential benefits of AI as a therapeutic tool:

Personalized Treatment

AI offers custom strategies for specific sexual concerns, like difficulties achieving orgasm or managing erection issues. For example, Intiem’s AI Virtual Sexual Wellness Therapist provides tailored solutions to help individuals enhance their sexual wellness and overcome challenges.

Improved Communication Skills

For clients with autism or social anxieties, AI-based interventions are stepping in to help. Specialized chatbots let users practice their communication skills and even sexting or dirty talk in a low-pressure, safe environment.

Support for Elderly or Disabled Clients

AI is making sexual exploration more accessible for elderly and disabled clients. Virtual companions and social robots offer emotional support and companionship. This creates new ways to connect and explore intimacy.

Potential Risks of AI in Sex Therapy

Of course, we can’t ignore the potential risks of using AI in a therapeutic setting. 

Privacy & Data Security

AI chatbots are language learning models, meaning they learn from human input. This can be especially compromising in a field like sexual health, where privacy and consent are non-negotiable. Given the personal nature of the data that AI works with, securing that information and obtaining clear, informed consent from users is absolutely crucial.

Accessibility

Will AI be equally accessible to everyone? As exciting as AI’s potential is, there is the risk of people being left behind as these technologies advance.

Potential Bias and Discrimination

It stands to reason that an AI learning model that is trained on human behavior might also learn some of the worst of human behavior. We already know that AI recruiting tools have the potential to be biased, so the same can happen with any application of AI. 

The Environmental Impact of AI

Finally, in discussing and considering the use of AI, one must also consider the potential environmental ramifications. The use of AI at a large scale is still fairly new to us. But we do know that the current large-scale AI initiatives are housed in massive data centers. These centers require massive amounts of water and grid power in order to function. It’s estimated that AI infrastructure may soon require six times more water than the entirety of Denmark. Which, when a quarter of humans are already suffering without clean water, is an issue.

Ultimately, AI has the potential to be an exciting addition to the sex therapy toolkit. But we need to move forward carefully. As a clinician, I have to be careful not to allow my excitement for a new technology to eclipse my responsibilities to my clients. As an average person who may or may not use AI to supplement therapy, you have to be mindful of the information that you’re receiving and know when to walk away from something for the sake of your own mental health.