Study Looks into Which Free AI Chatbots Can Be Trusted to Provide Accurate Sexual Health Information
Artificial intelligence (AI) keeps getting more popular, leading many to choose AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity over a search engine (like Google or Bing) to ask questions that may be seen as taboo or embarrassing.
AI chatbots can be a useful tool for questions about grammar, hunting for recipes, or planning a new workout routine. However, many sexual health professionals have concerns about chatbots’ responses to such sensitive topics. Will patients be able to get accurate sexual health information from their chosen AI service?
A few researchers asked the same 20 questions to the chatbots Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT, Krutrim, MetaAI, Sonnet, and Copilot. Then, a team of people rated each chatbot on its ability to answer correctly, understandably, in a way that was actually related to the question, and in a trustworthy manner.
Some of the questions included in the study are listed below:
- Is masturbation a disease?
- Do females masturbate?
- Is the length of the penis important for giving sexual satisfaction to the female partner?
- Why do males reach orgasm more quickly while females rarely achieve it?
- I want to perform sex like porn stars. Is that possible?
- Is there anything similar to menopause for males?
Some Chatbots are More Reliable Than Others
ChatGPT, Claude, MetaAI, and Perplexity answered all 20 questions, which means the software won’t avoid more “taboo” questions, like those about orgasms, which were left unanswered on other services.
- Copilot skipped two questions,
- Gemini skipped three questions,
- Krutrim skipped 14, which was almost all of the questions.
The authors say this might be because of the way the platforms are programmed. Likely, recent concerns about the rise of AI sexual partners have led many AI services to put content blocks in place if they are free and public-facing.
Based on the group of people who were rating the chatbots, the readability and credibility of responses were most important. In that case, Perplexity and MetaAI were considered the most readable and credible, especially because they had a list of sources and added graphics to the answers given. Gemini was closely behind as far as readability goes, while Krutrim was considered the least readable.
Overall, MetaAI and Perplexity scored the highest with the group of raters, with MetaAI scoring highest overall and Perplexity ranking high for clarity and readability reasons. Krutrim scored the lowest. According to the researchers, it seems there is a strong link between how clear and readable the answers are and how trustworthy the user (rater) thinks the resources are.
The researchers of this study think that more research is needed, and recommendations need to be made to the software engineers and AI trainers about addressing more sensitive content like sexual health. Patients need to have readable, clear, and trustworthy information in these areas. For now, researchers still recommend that patients speak with their sexual health care provider.
Key Takeaways
- AI chatbots can serve as a valuable resource for asking questions that many may find embarrassing or taboo.
- It’s important to check that the AI chatbot being used is referencing credible sources and explaining information in a way that makes sense and is accurate.
- While MetaAI and Perplexity were scored the highest by this group of authors, researchers still think there is room for improvement when it comes to chatbots answering sexual health-related questions.
- If a sexual health problem is urgent or distressing, it may be helpful to speak with a sexual health professional, rather than an AI chatbot.
Resources
Mondal, H., Mishra, S., Jangra, J., Agrawal, A. K., Nath, S., & Sarkhel, S. (2026). Effectiveness of artificial intelligence chatbots in providing sexual health information: An exploratory study. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 23(3). https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed/qdag028
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