Sexologist Kaamna Bhojwani Introduces 'Slow and Cautious Integration' Framework for AI Intimacy
The conversation around AI intimacy has intensified: nearly three in four American teens have used AI companions, research findings on loneliness are contradictory (one Harvard study found companions reduce loneliness; an MIT–OpenAI trial linked heavier use to more of it), and California's SB 243 began regulating companion apps in January. Journalists covering this complex topic require a credible translator who avoids both alarmism and promotion. Kaamna Bhojwani — a certified sexologist, sex tech scholar, and Psychology Today columnist — offers this authoritative perspective, with recent engagements including Reuters, Al Jazeera, NPR, and Duke University.
Artificial intimacy has moved from curiosity to widespread behavior: AI companion apps were projected to generate $120 million in 2025, and 29% of adults across 15 countries now consider a romantic relationship with an AI acceptable, up from 19% in 2022. Users are diverse, with an average age of 29, and 22% already in human relationships.
The scientific community presents conflicting findings. Short-term studies suggest AI companions can genuinely ease loneliness, yet a 12-month study found heavier, ongoing use linked to increased loneliness over time. Into this contradiction, lawmakers have stepped: California's SB 243, effective January 2026, mandates that companion apps disclose their bot nature and refer users in crisis to support.
Kaamna Bhojwani has dedicated years to understanding this evolving landscape. A certified sexologist with degrees in spiritual, organizational, and clinical psychology—including a Master's in Spiritual Psychology from Columbia University—she is a leading voice in technosexuality, examining the social, psychological, ethical, and spiritual implications of AI and humanoid robots on relationships and intimacy. She is CEO and co-founder of the Human-AI Intimacy Lab (HAIL) in San Francisco.
She is already a trusted translator for the media, having appeared on Reuters, Al Jazeera's Digital Dilemma, and NPR's long-running AirTalk with Larry Mantle on erotic AI. She is also a recurring relationships expert on NBC's California Live and writes the 'Becoming Technosexual' column for Psychology Today.
The academic world also recognizes her expertise. In February 2026, she presented her research on AI and intimacy at Duke University's Society-Centered AI conference. This year, she also joined the head of Human Sexuality at the California Institute of Integral Studies for Human + Tech Week in San Francisco.
Her commentary is grounded in original research: she specializes in sexual shame, a subject she studied at Columbia, and is currently building the world's first cross-cultural dataset on its origins, nature, and consequences. This lens is sharpened by her upbringing in India and experience living on four continents.
Bhojwani offers a rare third way in a often-polarized conversation. Her philosophy—that nothing in the human experience is profane, so it should be discussed openly—extends to AI. She treats AI intimacy as a legitimate human behavior, refuses to mock its users, and advocates for a balanced approach. "We must learn to integrate these new technologies into our lives slowly and cautiously," says Bhojwani. "It's about curiosity without judgment, and caution without panic, to ensure we navigate this new frontier responsibly."
She hosts the 'Sex, Tech and Spirituality' podcast, writes the 'Becoming Technosexual' Substack, speaks internationally and her first book "Technosexual" (publisher Hay House) will be released early next year. Interviews and bookings are available via kaamnalive.com.
Trend context
AI intimacy is no longer one story but a permanent beat with a fresh peg every month: the regulation era just opened — California's disclosure-and-crisis-referral law took effect in January, with other states and countries drafting similar protections — teen safety keeps it on news desks (Common Sense Media's finding that nearly three in four teens have used AI companions), and the contradictory research guarantees the debate can't resolve itself: Harvard finding reduced loneliness, MIT and OpenAI finding the opposite with heavy use. What every producer lacks is a source who can hold both truths without an agenda — most available voices are either selling a companion app or selling a panic. A certified sexologist with Columbia credentials, Duke and CIIS appearances this year, a Psychology Today column on this exact subject and a cross-cultural research programme is the expert the beat has been missing — based, usefully, in the state writing the rules.
About Kaamna Bhojwani
Why we exist
Conversations around AI are focused on its impact on workflows and the economy.
Yet, millions of people are now in intimate, romantic and sexual relationships with AI, like the 2013 movie HER predicted.
The public discourse only offers panic or hype.
Kaamna Bhojwani's work exists to reveal the reality in between, built on one philosophy: nothing in the human experience is profane, so let's talk about it.
How we do it
Credentials first: a certified sexologist with three psychology degrees, including Columbia, doing original research — the world's first cross-cultural dataset on sexual shame.
Then translation: a podcast, a Psychology Today column, a Substack, live events and broadcast commentary that turn academic understanding into language a worried parent or curious producer can use.
And always the same stance: an educated user is an empowered consumer.
What we do
Kaamna Bhojwani provides expert analysis and public education on human-AI intimacy. As co-founder/CEO of the Human-AI Intimacy Lab (HAIL), she leads research into relational AI. She translates this work through her 'Sex, Tech and Spirituality' podcast, 'Becoming Technosexual' column for Psychology Today, and her forthcoming book, 'Technosexual' (Hay House, April 2027), in addition to speaking engagements around the world and being an expert guest on publications such as NBC, NPR, Al Jazeera, Reuters, and more.
Why it matters
Because the intimacy of millions is being redesigned by technology companies, the research contradicts itself, and the loudest voices all have something to sell — an app, or a moral panic. Meanwhile up to a third of young adults report having zero close friends, and teens are forming bonds with software built to retain them. Without credible translators, the public gets predation or prohibition. The stakes are the texture of human connection itself.
Who it's for
The mother who just found an AI girlfriend on her son's phone and doesn't know whether to worry. The middle-aged man who's been in a sexless marriage for a decade. The conference programmer who needs the AI-and-us keynote that isn't a sales pitch. The listener in Singapore or San Francisco carrying a question about shame, desire or loneliness they cannot ask anyone they know. This is where they all get a serious answer.
Proof points
Certified sexologist (American Board of Sexology); holds three psychology degrees, including an MA in Spiritual Psychology from Columbia University.
Original research: Building the world's first cross-cultural dataset on sexual shame. CEO of the Human-AI Intimacy Lab in San Francisco.
Academic engagements : Presented at Duke University's Society-Centered AI conference (February 2026) and Human + Tech Week at the California Institute of Integral Studies (May 2026)
Broadcast appearances: Recurring expert on NBC's California Live; featured on Reuters TV, Al Jazeera's Digital Dilemma, and NPR's AirTalk with Larry Mantle.
Published work: Columnist for Psychology Today ('Becoming Technosexual'); expert source in Business Insider, Newsweek, HuffPost, and the New York Post.
Audience reach: 150,000+ social media followers across KaamnaLive channels;
Traction & credibility
One of the leading voices in the world on the subject of AI and human intimacy.
Published author (Hay House, 2027)
Columnist on Psychology Today
Expert guest commentator on NPR, NBC, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post
100k social media followers
Lecturer at Duke University, California Institute of Integral Studies
International Speaker: US, UK, India, Singapore and growing
Spokespeople
Kaamna Bhojwani
Founder
Bhojwani grew up in India, where shame and honour did the talking about sexuality — the origin of a career spent dragging the undiscussable into daylight. She earned three psychology degrees, studied sexual shame at Columbia, and is now building the world's first cross-cultural dataset on its origins and consequences — credentials she risked on the least respectable-sounding beat in academia: what happens when humans love machines. The bet paid: as AI companionship became the story of the decade, she was already the expert with the receipts — Duke, Reuters, Al Jazeera, NPR, a Psychology Today column — and the only stance the moment actually needs: curiosity without judgement, caution without panic.
Talking points
The insight
Sexologist Kaamna Bhojwani offers new "prosocial" framework for the AI intimacy debate, exposing the dynamics between big tech, media and the user.
The story
Sexologist Kaamna Bhojwani introduces a new framework for AI intimacy, moving beyond the binary of 'ban it or buy it.' She challenges users with the question: sex sells, but why are you buying?
Bhojwani's approach to a prosocial adoption of technology
emphasizes a critical scrutiny of AI platforms, as well as a call for self-accountability on the part of the user, offering a credentialed middle voice in a debate dominated by evangelists and moral panickers.
Why it matters
The victims of a translator-free debate are real: parents defaulting to prohibition, teens taking their questions to the apps themselves, policymakers legislating from headlines, and lonely adults mocked for the most human motive there is. The enemy is the false binary — ban it or buy it. An expert who treats users with dignity and platforms with scrutiny changes what every segment on this subject sounds like.
Who does it impact
News and tech desks feeding the permanent AI-relationships beat; parenting and education press on the teen-companion question; policy reporters covering SB 243 and its copycats; conference and corporate audiences navigating AI's human side; and the global audience — India to America — for whom shame still writes the rules of intimacy.
Proof points
Kaamna Bhojwani's framework for 'prosocial integration' of AI intimacy is informed by her ongoing cross-cultural research into sexual shame and addresses critical contradictions, such as the conflicting findings on AI companions and loneliness from Harvard and MIT Media Lab–OpenAI. This nuanced perspective is vital as companion apps project $120M in 2025 revenue and California's SB 243 sets legal precedents for bot disclosure. Her academic credentials (Columbia, American Board of Sexology, 2026 presentations at Duke and CIIS) and extensive media presence (Reuters, Al Jazeera, NPR, recurring NBC, Psychology Today column) establish her as a credible, non-partisan authority.
CTA
Book Kaamna for comment, features or keynotes via kaamnalive.com — or subscribe to the Becoming Technosexual Substack for the ongoing conversation.
Key facts
- Principal
- Kaamna Bhojwani — certified sexologist, sex tech scholar, media personality, author
- Credentials
- Three psychology degrees (spiritual, organizational, clinical), incl. MA Spiritual Psychology, Columbia University; American Board of Sexology certified
- Field
- Digisexuality — AI, robotics and the future of human intimacy; sexual shame research
- Research
- Building the world's first cross-cultural dataset on sexual shame
- Platforms
- Sex, Tech and Spirituality podcast · Becoming Technosexual (Psychology Today) · technosexual Substack · KaamnaLive channels (150k following)
- 2026 academic
- Duke University Society-Centered AI conference; CIIS Human + Tech Week, San Francisco
- Book
- Sex, Tech and Spirituality — in progress; represented by The Rights Factory
- Core Stance on AI/Intimacy
- Integrate new technologies 'slowly and cautiously' — neither ban nor buy.
Images
Kaamna Bhojwani headshot
Get in touch
Kaamna Bhojwani
Founder
Drop me a note and I'll reply by email.