Perspective on “Sexual health in the era of artificial intelligence: a scoping review of the literature”

Extract

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.

Arthur C. Clarke

In 1956, at Dartmouth College, a set of researchers gathered in what is recognized as the first moment to coin the term artificial intelligence (AI) as a distinct field of research. While almost 70 years have passed, and the perspective of the time predicted widespread use of AI in one generation time, only in the last decade, driven by advances both in hardware and core technologies, such as deep learning and generative AI, has the field bloomed in a wide range of application domains. Within this time frame, AI has been applied to medicine in diverse areas.¹ Still, despite this relatively long trajectory, AI did not echo in sexual medicine, perhaps except for urology. In Chawareb et al. timely scoping review,² the authors comprehensively map AI applications in sexual medicine, providing the reader with an overview of AI status and incorporating new terminologies for sexual health practitioners. Despite being unfamiliar, such terminologies will likely be part of near-future sexual health curricula and intervention repertoires. Indeed, the 69 articles analyzed by the authors unveil a progressive sexual health agenda²: