Can AI Solve the Dick Pic Epidemic?

The dick pic epidemic might finally have a cure, and it’s not another reporting button or blocking feature. It’s an AI sex coach.

New data from dating app Flirtini reveals that 78% of women have received unsolicited nudes from people they’ve just matched with. One in six women surveyed said they’re simply exhausted from the constant barrage of genital photography flooding their inboxes.

Putting aside the claim that only one in six of women is sick of dick pics, the company has a solution: An AI chatbot called Flirty Mood that’s designed to teach men how to sext in words, before they move on to traumatizing actual humans.

“Flirty Mood isn’t just another sleazy AI chatbot,” said Anastasiya Pochotna, Flirtini’s product marketing manager. “She’s smart, sexy, and knows what she’s doing—the perfect match for men hoping to get better at reading signals, understanding boundaries, and expressing their desires in a way that doesn’t immediately turn women off.”

The survey of 2,500 active daters using Flirtini across the U.S. and U.K. uncovered a brutal reality for aspiring digital Casanovas: 32% of men reported being unmatched or mocked for sending spicy messages. Five percent said they were “roasted or rejected so bad they felt stupid for even trying.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given who’s pitching the product, 48% of male users said they’d prefer to “warm up” with an AI partner before attempting to sext with a real match. Some 38% believed it would help build their confidence, while 21% hoped it would teach them “what’s OK to send.”

If the survey is to be believed, here’s where it gets interesting: women are actually onboard with this plan. Half of female respondents liked the idea of men practicing with AI, with 36% believing it would cut down on cringy messages and 26% saying it could “build respect.” Another 18% specifically said it could teach pushy men to respect boundaries.

When the bot was initially released, it helped dudes craft opening lines, but maintained strict boundaries between romantic and explicitly sexual content. But—shocker!—anonymous analytics revealed users wanted to get steamy with the bot.

Paul Aaron, founder of The School for Lovers, which provides sex education for adults, said that though he can “see the appeal and [I] think many will benefit from such AI tools,” it might make some newbie sexters even more tone-deaf.

“I wouldn’t [use it] because we teach these skills to students who practice them with other students,” he said, suggesting that for many the AI tool will make them “feel it only puts them ‘out ahead of their skis.’”

Lorene Cowan, a certified matchmaker and founder of dating app Yoke, fully supported the idea of Flirty Mood.

“Many awkward or inappropriate messages aren’t malicious—they’re the result of poor emotional awareness or nervous energy,” she said. “If AI could help men pause, reframe, and practice how to approach women with more respect and nuance, it could reduce the volume of tone-deaf or overly aggressive openers.”

The AI dating coach market is already crowded. Back in 2023, Grindr announced a strategic partnership with generative AI company Ex-human to add an AI assistant to its platform. Its chatbot assistant, called the Grindr Wingman, would help customers deal with the “biggest pain points” of online dating, by doing things like offering up conversation prompts based on users’ profiles and chat histories. The list of backers included Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, Solana founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, Morning Brew’s Austin Rief, and Google Senior Product Manager Logan Kilpatrick.

RIZZ.AI, a newcomer in the burgeoning field of AI-powered dating assistance, racked up 3.5 million downloads in 2024. The app uses AI to analyze voice interactions and provides real-time coaching on flirting and communication. At $7 per week, it reported a 30% quarterly growth rate.

The digital dating landscape desperately needs something to change. With women drowning in unwanted dick pics and men apparently unable to grasp basic consent, maybe it’s time to let the machines teach humans how to be human. At minimum, if AI can convince even 10% of men that their penis isn’t a conversation starter, then Flirty Mood will have done more for online dating than years of “report” buttons ever accomplished.