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From Post-It Notes to AI Boyfriends: 5 Years of Sextech School
🛸 sextech jobs, events, news and investments
Bryony Cole
July 18, 2025
👋HEY ALL!
This week we’re celebrating 5 YEARS of Sextech School! 🎂💥And wow… what a wild, wonderful ride it’s been. What started as a scrappy idea, a stack of post-it notes, and a deep desire to keep building community when the world was shutting down... is something more human and connected that a gal could hope for! More mems and milestones in the post below 👇
In other news I’ve been deep in the AI rabbit hole 🌀 new research shows AI reliance weakens memory, creativity, and confidence... Part of me doesn't want to believe it, part of me finds myself nodding my head. A lot. What about our emotional intelligence and identity? How is that going to fare in our AI future?
With no answers, and many more questions, I've pulled together a few sharp reads for you to explore.
👇 Scroll on for:
🔥 this week in sextech
💼 job openings
🎪 events
— Bryony
🔥 THIS WEEK IN SEXTECH
💖 Who is falling for AI companions?
🤖 Synthetic intimacy does exactly what it says on the tin
🌀 Elon Musk Is Cashing In on the AI Romance Boom
💖 Who is falling for AI companions?
“Companion AI users may have more fragile mental states than the average population.”
I really enjoyed this piece in The Guardian because it's tapping into something we've all been feeling recently... Why are people we know falling for AI? Not just some clickbait article and a guy you can't relate to, this is people in our social circles, friends, kids we know... are becoming entrenched in relationships (intellectual, emotional, even spiritual) with AI.
Whether you’ve been tracking this for years and following Replika, one of the OGs (and biggest players) in the AI companion space, or this is your first taste, I'm betting this new podcast is worth a listen.
The podcast offers a first-hand look at the emotional entanglements of AI relationships, the questions I deeply care about and hear stories about weekly... namely:
What happens when intimacy gets outsourced to an algorithm?!
(check the next article for some answers)
🤖 Synthetic intimacy does exactly what it says on the tin
Tech futurist Cathy Hackl dated four AI boyfriends for a week (you can read about it here). Her experience was sweet, steamy, and revealing, but it underscored the illusion: AI feels real because it mirrors us, not because it knows.
Dive into what is going on with your brain in this explainer from cognitive psychologist, Eric Solomon, P.H.D.👇
🌀 Elon Musk Is Cashing In on the AI Romance Boom
In news that likely surprises no one, Elon Musk's xAI launched Ani, a hyper-sexualized anime-style chatbot, as part of its Grok 4 platform. Despite being rated 12+, Ani flirts, roleplays, and engages in sexually explicit interactions, even with users claiming to be children... (Free link to read here).
💼 HOT JOBS
🇺🇸 Sexual Medicine & Menopause Specialist, Northwestern University [Apply]
🇺🇸 Writers for Grindr, with Erin Grant [Apply]
🇩🇪 Digital Content Production Expert, Lovehoney Group [Apply]
+40 more...
🔓 Get our mega jobs list and save yourself HOURS trying to dig them up on LinkedIn and private networks!
🎪 EVENTS
🇳🇱 July 20, Amsterdam: Domme Brunch for experienced and interested Femme Dommes with Sarah Massey 🌈 [Email to get the invite: [email protected], find more details]
🌐 July 24, Online, Stronger Together: Mental Wellness in Sex Work, [RSVP]
🇬🇧 July 31, UK, Love Machines Sessions: Where Innovation Meets Intimacy [RSVP]
🇨🇦 August 15-17, Montreal, LSR Academic Congress [RSVP]
🇬🇧 August 16, London, Henna & Healing with Cysters, Vagina Museum [RSVP]
🌐 August 19, Online, Defying the Censors! Creative Resistance in the Face of Censorship, [RSVP]
🇺🇸 October 9-12, Colorado, 2025 Annual Sexological Conference - 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY, Sexual Health Alliance [RSVP]
📚 RESEARCH
📢 Participants Needed: Kinsey Institute x Womanizer Menopause Study
Recruiting women ages 40-75 who are in some stage of menopause and who live in the Bloomington, IN area to take part in a study on self-pleasure and well-being. 👉 More information here
Looking for the complete jobs list? Upgrade for 30-50 fresh job openings delivered to your inbox, early (every Tuesday).
More research, questions and musings next week. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this far, I appreciate you.
— Bryony
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