A fun and effective way to spice up your erotic play.

Want to know where to find a partner? There’s an app for that. Want to know the ins and outs of getting it on? There’s an app for that, too. Want to tickle your foot fetish fancy? Here you go.

But until recently if you wanted to know how to send saucy texts to your significant other you were pretty much out of luck.

Enter Slutbot: a playful new way to learn how to get into the swing of sexting.

How do I talk dirty?

The brainchild of the folks at Juicebox , an online sex ed company, Slutbot was developed to cater to a persistent question they would receive: “how do I talk dirty?”

Juicebox’s CEO and founder, Brianna Rader explained to Mashable that this seemingly simple question was part of a larger issue.

“After we got the request repeatedly over several months, it shed light on the fact that, really, what people struggle with in terms of sex and sexuality is communication. People often don’t have the language to express their desires. They don’t have the skills. And at Juicebox we believe that the best way to learn is to just do it.”

The answer to this is as easy as texting 415-650-0395. This will launch the Slutbot and start the process to help teach users how to get comfortable sending sexy messages.

Put together by programmers as well as sex education experts and even erotica writers, Slutbot provides a safe environment for users to practice and refine their sexting prowess.

Communication equals intimacy

Rader goes on to say that sexting is about more than trying to use words to arouse another person. Being able to communicate about desire can be key to a healthy sex life—and even lead to greater and deeper intimacy.

Intimacy isn’t just about the physical sex act. It’s about sharing your whole self and sharing what your truth is. And dirty talk is a great way to do that. Having your desires feel accepted can create amazingly powerful sexual experiences. But if you can’t share your desires, you’re really holding yourself back.

But Slutbot isn’t just a basic bit of programming. Rather, Juicebox put a lot of work into addressing some major concerns when it comes to sexting.

For example, it offers two degrees of, for lack of a better word, passion. The first being “Slow & Sensual,” for those who might not be comfortable hearing or using more explicit sexual terms. “Hot & Heavy,” meanwhile, goes for broke when it comes to language.

Inclusivity was also something that Rader made a major component of the bot. Users are offered a wide array of sexual preference and identity options, including those for straight, gay, lesbian, and even non-binary folks.

Consent is also covered, as is the aim of creating safe spaces for people with various levels of comfort.

Feeling uneasy about a certain word? No fear, Slutbot can be programmed to respond to a safeword, enabling the user to filter out phrases that shouldn’t be used in the future.

The bot also filters out words and phrases that are often deemed derogatory. Use one and Slut bot will respond saying it doesn’t like those terms.

Consent again: showing that humans have the power to say no—and to respond respectfully when they hear it themselves.

As Rader says, “The question format is an important way to model consent, and to show how consent is a great way to have dirty talk. It also gives the user a chance to practice. You’re not just a passive receiver. We’re trying to make the user practice using their own language too.”

A great bot but still a bot

Slutbot can also encourage users to try new things, suggesting everything from different sexual orientation play or even to try something kinky.

While the bot is sophisticated, it’s not true artificial intelligence. Working through a branching narrative structure, it can mirror human interaction but often feel a little stilted and artificial.

This isn’t to say that it isn’t fun or, better yet, useful by those who find it awkward to communicate with others about sex. It’s just that it still is just a bot—albeit a very well programmed one.

More than likely this will change in the future, either by Slutbot’s developers or by another team somewhere else. Integrating real AI could then allow greater flexibility and even a degree of awareness: educating people on how to talk about sex but also carefully guiding them into understanding the importance of tolerance and respect.

At this point, it could even become not just a teacher but a therapist as well, perhaps being built into a suite of similar programs that could listen, react, guide, and support users in all aspects of their physical, mental, and sexual health.

A great step forward

Still, Slutbot and the people behind it should still be applauded. Beyond the drive to have it address consent, be inclusive and respectful for a range of orientations and preferences, it was created not to cash in on a hopefully eager market but to address the concerns of those who find talking about sex challenging.

Communication, after all, is the foundation of good and especially respectful sexual play: being able to communicate desires, express concerns, and especially to say when something isn’t going well.

And anything that helps people understand that, and practice listening as well as talking about sex, should be something we all should discuss—and spread the word about.

Image sources: Juicebox/YouTube, Andrew S