Joi AI: $2,000 to Test AI-Guided Masturbation

The American startup Joi is making waves with an unconventional job offer: paying ten volunteers $2,000 per month for four weeks to masturbate while following the instructions of an artificial intelligence. This announcement, which might seem like a joke, is actually a serious strategy by the company to explore the impact of its technologies on well-being.

Joi, specializing in AI-powered virtual companions, invites participants to test a feature of AI-guided masturbation with voice scenarios. The goal of this experiment is to measure the effects on users' stress, sleep, and mood. Participants will be required to document their experiences through regular reports.

Recruitment is open to everyone, regardless of gender, and interested candidates must fill out an online questionnaire. In a humorous tone, Joi specifies that no references are needed to apply, which has contributed to the virality of the announcement.

Joi is not a stranger in the field of conversational chatbots. The platform hosts numerous avatars, often inspired by real and hypersexualized personalities, and aims to combat what it calls an "epidemic of loneliness." The company claims that applications for virtual companions have seen spectacular growth over the past three years. Despite the enthusiasm surrounding these technologies, questions remain about the psychological consequences of such virtual interactions, and studies on their real impact are still limited.