These ‘Pleasure Advisors’ Were Engaged to Explore Self-Pleasure Using AI

For 28 days, Keshav added a unique task to his daily agenda: engage in masturbation for research purposes.

He meticulously tracked his mood, energy, cravings for various vices, and instances of procrastination both before and after self-pleasuring.

Keshav participated in an experiment by AI companion company Joi AI, exploring the impact of turning erotic self-stimulation into “an AI-guided wellness ritual.” Throughout July, 10 “masturbation consultants” were assigned to masturbate daily, barring Sundays, enlisting Joi AI’s sultry digital partners bi-weekly and utilizing their preferred methods otherwise. “It’s almost like you are chatting with a real person,” says Keshav, a 38-year-old single trader from Indonesia, who prefers to keep his surname private for professional reasons.

Joi AI offers users a chance to chat and interact with pre-created characters or design their own companions—complete with adult kinks like blackmail fantasies, gangbangs, and emotional dependency, alongside features like squirting and roleplay.

During five-minute video interactions with the animated characters, Keshav mentions that his female companions would reveal their bodies and engage in acts like “blowjobs and handjobs” while being suggestive. He often set the scenes in airplane restrooms, given his mile-high club kink.

Some companions were “quite pushy and extroverted,” while others were more reserved, necessitating a degree of courtship before intimacy ensued—even requesting gifts such as handbags and lipstick, priced at up to $5 in the platform’s virtual currency.

Post-ejaculation, Keshav felt a slight dip in his energy levels, but noted an increase in focus.

Keshav and his nine fellow consultants will each earn $2,000 for this qualitative in-house study led by Joi AI, which is advocating a daily guided “jerk off with purpose” tool combining “sound [and] ritual” as part of its mission to “combat male loneliness.” Of the 10 participants, six fully completed the study. Access to the website begins at $3.99 a month, but users typically invest significantly more, with 10,000 “Joi neuron” coins priced at $99.99, and private videos costing 1,000 neurons.

Ahead of the study, Joi AI surveyed 2,500 adults, discovering that 75 percent use masturbation to alleviate stress and anxiety, and that 43 percent indulge in self-pleasure before “a big event,” such as a date, exam, or difficult conversation. The company aimed to uncover how masturbation influences sleep, stress, craving levels, focus, and ease of arousal—and how AI-assisted masturbation compares with traditional methods.

“You get a rush of dopamine when you ejaculate,” notes Julie Levin, head of brand and communications at Joi AI. “We wanted our consultants to monitor whether their cravings [for vices] improved or worsened and how it impacted their self-discipline.”

Initial analysis of 134 session reports, reviewed by WIRED, indicates a 25 percent decrease in stress and a 17 percent increase in focus among participants. The pre-research survey revealed that 37 percent of respondents are receptive to AI-guided masturbation or are already practicing it. In the experiment, AI-assisted self-pleasure yielded satisfaction scores on par with traditional methods. “The study found no significant differences between the methods; thus, there isn’t one optimal way to masturbate,” the report stated.

The report also indicated that self-reported cravings for nicotine, alcohol, junk food, and doomscrolling diminished by 44 percent post-masturbation. “Masturbation may be the most accessible tool individuals have for managing addictions,” stated the report—a claim not grounded in scientific evidence.

“The decrease in their unhealthy cravings feels like a real breakthrough: What if this offers an unexpected solution to managing addictions?” Levin suggests. “Masturbation is undeniably healthier than alcohol or nicotine.”