The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Sexuality: A Five-Year Literature Review 2020–2024

Abstract

Purpose of Review Millions of people now use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools in their daily lives for a variety of purposes, including sexual ones. This narrative literature review provides the first scoping overview of current research on generative AI use in the context of sexual health and behaviors. Recent Findings The review includes 88 peer-reviewed English language publications from 2020 to 2024 that report on 106 studies and address four main areas of AI use in sexual health and behaviors among the general population: (1) People use AI tools such as ChatGPT to obtain sexual information and education. We identified k = 14 publications that evaluated the quality of AI-generated sexual health information. They found high accuracy and completeness. (2) People use AI tools such as ChatGPT and dedicated counseling/therapy chatbots to solve their sexual and relationship problems. We identified k = 16 publications providing empirical results on therapists’ and clients’ perspectives and AI tools’ therapeutic capabilities with mixed but overall promising results. (3) People use AI tools such as companion and adult chatbots (e.g., Replika) to experience sexual and romantic intimacy. We identified k = 22 publications in this area that confirm sexual and romantic gratifications of AI conversational agents, but also point to risks such as emotional dependence. (4) People use image- and video-generating AI tools to produce pornography with different sexual and non-sexual motivations. We found k = 36 studies on AI pornography that primarily address the production, uses, and consequences of – as well as the countermeasures against – non-consensual deepfake pornography. This sort of content predominantly victimizes women and girls whose faces are swapped into pornographic material and circulated without their consent. Research on ethical AI pornography is largely missing. Summary Generative AI tools present new risks and opportunities for human sexuality and sexual health. More research is needed to better understand the intersection of GenAI and sexuality in order to a) help people navigate their sexual GenAI experiences, b) guide sex educators, counselors, and therapists on how to address and incorporate AI tools into their professional work, c) advise AI developers on how to design tools that avoid harm, d) enlighten policymakers on how to regulate AI for the sake of sexual health, and e) inform journalists and knowledge workers on how to report about AI and sexuality in an evidence-based manner.