ChatGPT will create and engage in erotic content starting December 2025. Using AI to deliver sexual content is not exactly new.

     So, as AI platforms double down on erotic content, how do we overcome our moral panic and work towards safer and more thoughtful integration of AI into our personal lives? Here are some points to consider: Sex sells, but intimacy drives revenue; effective age verification is an illusion; the mental health issues are far from resolved; online sexual crimes will increase exponentially; men and boys are targets.

     How to Engage — Practice ruthless self-regulation and understand risk!

                “Ai is Putting “X” in Xmas.” Psychology Today (Nov. 2025).

     Retirement carries a risk of what sociologists call social death. Social death is not inevitable. Remaining socially engaged is the key to flourishing in retirement. Social death can be turned into social rebirth, setting the occasion for a meaningful retirement.

     Here are some steps that can be taken:

     Actively seek out new social relationships. Find ways to remain involved in your profession. Remain intellectually engaged. Maintain or increase your physical activity. Exercise helps maintain brain health. Moreover, many forms of exercise include social interactions. Be grateful for the past and optimistic for the future.

See for more information — “Retirement and Relationships.” Psychology Today (2025).

“Nations all over the world are dumping millions and billions into AI research and patenting. The news is saturated with new GPT version releases, people being manipulated by or falling in love with AI agents …. But recently, I’ve noticed myself pushing back on the torrent of technology infiltrating our lives in both morally questionable and downright annoying ways. Educators, writers, policymakers, and podcast hosts have all begun to acknowledge that it’s somewhat disconcerting to be living in the wild West of AI, where everyone’s using it and no one’s regulating it. Of course, that’s an overstatement, but it is a fact that AI rolled out lightning quickly before anyone had time to consider its moral implications and how it should be regulated for the safety of humankind.” “Ai Fatigue and Breaking Away from it.” Psychology Today (Sept. 2025).

” Marketed as conversational agents, chatbots are becoming de facto digital therapists for many teenagers and young couples, for whom this technology now feels native. This raises the stakes for ensuring these tools are safe and governed by enforceable standards. Nearly half of young Americans ages 18 to 25 with mental health needs received no treatment last year — a gap that makes the appeal of 24/7, judgment-free companionship even stronger …. Some states are beginning to act. Illinois just passed a law barring licensed mental health professionals from using A.I. in therapeutic decision-making. But most teenager-chatbot interactions happen outside clinical settings, and they involve conversations about emotional and social well-being rather than about formal medical treatments.” “Chatbot Therapy for Teenagers —  Dangerous.” New York Times (August 27, 2025).

     One of the issues confronting couples today is the relationship and friendship with other couples — especially as social isolation has become a plague in our social media era. A decade or so ago Psychology Today presented an article discussing what makes for couple’s friendship. Such friendship reinforces the couple’s own relationship. Needless to say, social media has made this issue even more complex today. The following is from that article …………..

“One of the biggest challenges for couples is to determine how to spend their time – do they spend it alone with just each other, alone without their partner, each partner with individual friends, with family, or with other couples? ….  It is well-established that people with friends live longer, healthier, and happier lives. Friends keep us on our toes, socially engaged, and mentally active …. Couples who share friends (which include individuals or family members) tend to be happier. These couples get to be together with friends and family and engage in enjoyable and meaningful activities. They are more fully integrated into their social network if friendships are shared and this may re-enforce their own relationship …. Related to marital/partner happiness, couple friendships can strengthen individual friendships that the couple has with one or both members of the other couple. Many couples described friendships that began on a one-to-one basis; the men knew each other from college or the women met at work and then introduced their spouses to each other. The opportunity to still go out alone with the close friend as well as with the other partners of the friends re-enforces the earlier friendship. “Couples Friendly with other Couples.” Psychology Today (2012).

“A French court had ruled that a woman had violated her marital duties by not having sex with her husband. The European Court of Human Rights condemned that decision. Europe’s top human rights court said that the French court’s decision had violated the woman’s right to private life and autonomy, which included her sexual life. The decision was seen as a milestone by women’s rights activists who have long raised concerns about France’s marital laws …. It was a symbolic victory for the woman, who had argued that she should not have been found at fault in the divorce. Women’s rights groups called the decision a fundamental step to address sexual violence and other forms of abuse against women in relationships.” “European Court – Wife Entitled to Refuse Sex.” New York Times (Jan. 26, 2025).

“What do the loneliness epidemic, falling rates of adolescent drinking and dating, and worsening mental health among teenagers and young adults have in common? …. Trends in time spent alone are an almost exact parallel of trends in mental health, where rates of mental distress are mounting among the young, but not the middle-aged or older …. The most obvious culprit in terms of timing and age gradient is the proliferation of smartphones and hyper-engaging social media, which has kicked into overdrive with the era of short-form video …. The last decade is a story of young people retreating from the pursuits that bring them the most fulfilment, and replacing them — consciously or otherwise — with pale imitations. “Young People are Hanging out Less – Unhealthy for Mental Health.” Financial Tines (January 17, 2025).

     The general demographic story today is the decline of couples and the rise of singledom worldwide. Many reasons for this. But research now points to the rise of social media and cell phones. This is often accompanied by loneliness and frustration. The bright spot is that people are beginning to realize this and starting to take corrective action.  Less social media and more personal interaction. However, many may prefer singledom.

“In recent years most of the fall in birthrate is coming not from the decisions made by couples, but from a marked fall in the number of couples …. The central demographic story of modern times is the rising rates of singledom: a much more fundamental shift in the nature of modern societies. Relationships are not just becoming less common, but increasingly fragile …. But the rise of singledom and relationship dissolution is a less rosy story …. But the wider data on loneliness and dating frustrations suggests not all is well. The trend is global …. Why an almost worldwide decline, and why now? The fact that this is happening almost everywhere all at once points more to broad changes acting across borders than country-specific factors. The proliferation of smartphones and social media has been one such exogenous ….  and boosts female empowerment …. The fall in coupling is deepest in extremely online Europe …. A world of rising singledom is not necessarily any better or worse than one filled with couples and families, but it is fundamentally different to what has come before, with major social, economic and political implications.” “Relationship Recession is Going Global.” Financial Times (January 11, 2025).