These ‘Masturbation Consultants’ Were Hired to Pleasure Themselves With AI
Mattha BusbyCultureAug 14, 2026 6:45 AMThese ‘Masturbation Consultants’ Were Hired to Pleasure Themselves With AIJoi AI hired 10 people to masturbate using AI companions as part of a monthlong “wellness” study. The company sought to discover how masturbation affects sleep, stress, craving intensity, focus, and ease of arousal—and how masturbating with AI held up versus other methods.“You get this boost of dopamine when you ejaculate,” says Julie Levin, head of brand and communications at Joi AI. “We wanted our consultants to track whether their cravings [for vices] are worse or better and how it affects their self-discipline.”Preliminary analysis of 134 masturbation session reports, seen by WIRED, suggests that participants' stress levels reduced by 25 percent and focus increased by 17 percent.
- ▪Mattha BusbyCultureAug 14, 2026 6:45 AMThese ‘Masturbation Consultants’ Were Hired to Pleasure Themselves With AIJoi AI hired 10 people to masturbate using AI companions as part of a monthlong “wellness” study.
- ▪The company sought to discover how masturbation affects sleep, stress, craving intensity, focus, and ease of arousal—and how masturbating with AI held up versus other methods.“You get this boost of dopamine when you ejaculate,” says Julie L
- ▪“We wanted our consultants to track whether their cravings [for vices] are worse or better and how it affects their self-discipline.”Preliminary analysis of 134 masturbation session reports, seen by WIRED, suggests that participants' stress
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| Publication time | Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:45:00 +0000 |
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Mattha BusbyCultureAug 14, 2026 6:45 AMThese ‘Masturbation Consultants’ Were Hired to Pleasure Themselves With AIJoi AI hired 10 people to masturbate using AI companions as part of a monthlong “wellness” study. The company claims the practice could help “solve male loneliness.”Photo-Illustration: Jobanny Cabrera; Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyFor 28 days, Keshav had a new item on his daily to-do list: masturbate for research purposes.Both before and after self-pleasuring, he logged his mood, energy levels, cravings for various vices, and whether he was procrastinating.Keshav was taking part in AI companion company Joi AI’s experiment assessing what happens if erotic self-stimulation becomes “an AI-guided wellness ritual.”…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at WIRED.
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