Joy AI runs 28-day trial to test AI-guided masturbation as daily health ritual

Joy AI recruited ten “masturbation consultants” for a 28-day experiment in July, paying each participant $2,000 for daily reports on mood, energy levels, cravings for addictive substances and procrastination. Participants were asked to engage in masturbation every day except Sundays, using the platform’s digital avatars twice a week and their usual methods on the remaining days. Six of the ten completed the full protocol. Keshav, a 38-year-old trader from Indonesia who asked to remain anonymous for professional reasons, described the sessions as “almost like talking to a real person”.

Joy AI offers users, for a fee, the ability to chat with pre-made characters or create custom companion bots that include explicit triggers such as blackmail fantasies, orgasmic fantasies and emotional dependency, alongside features like hacking and role-playing. In five-minute video calls the avatars display genitals, perform oral and manual acts while using dirty talk, and sometimes demand flirting, virtual gifts such as briefcases and lipsticks that cost up to $5 in the internal currency “neurons”. Basic access costs $3.99 per month, 10,000 neurons cost $99.99 and private videos cost 1,000 neurons.

Before the trial Joy AI surveyed 2,500 adults and found 75 percent masturbate to reduce stress and anxiety, and 43 percent do so before a significant event such as a date, exam or difficult conversation. An initial analysis of 134 activity reports obtained by WIRED indicates a 25 percent drop in stress levels and a 17 percent increase in focus. 37 percent of respondents expressed openness to AI-guided masturbation or already practice it. The company says no statistically significant differences were found in satisfaction scores between the AI-guided method and conventional methods, “there is no single best way to masturbate”.

Julie Levin, head of brand and communications at Joy AI, said the aim was to track whether cravings for harmful substances worsen or improve after ejaculation and how this affects self-discipline. The report claims self-reported cravings for nicotine, alcohol, junk food and endless scrolling fell by 44 percent after the act, and declares “masturbation may be the most accessible tool people have for managing addictions”. Joy AI is now promoting a daily “masturbation with purpose” tool that combines sound and ritual as part of its stated goal “to solve men’s loneliness”.