Cybrothel and the AI Revolution in the Sex Industry – Between Innovation and Criticism

Berlin is currently experiencing an unusual economic experiment: the founding of Cybrothel marks a turning point in the sex industry. The company utilizes artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and life-sized sex dolls to create a completely new business model—one that attracts people seeking intimacy without human interaction.

How Cybrothel Challenges Traditional Sex Work

Cybrothel operates superficially like a classic escort service with private suites for hourly or overnight use. However, the fundamental difference lies in the staffing: instead of hiring human sex workers, the Berlin-based company offers customers a selection of life-sized sex dolls. These are equipped with realistic features but cannot move or speak independently.

Cybrothel’s business is driven by a remarkable development in Germany. The number of sex workers in the country has decreased by 30 percent since the pandemic—a trend that has inspired entrepreneurs like Matthias Smetana, co-founder of Cybrothel, to pursue innovative solutions. He interprets this decline as a signal of an inevitable change in the industry.

Technological Innovation Meets Human Skepticism

The technological integration at Cybrothel is impressive: customers put on VR headsets and access high-resolution 4D pornography with their chosen doll. An AI sexting program enables digital entertainment with the virtual personalities. Smetana is continuously working to develop the dolls further so they can respond to touches and communicate in real time.

But not everyone welcomes this concept with open arms. Emma Bennet, managing director of the Australian Onyxx brothel in Townsville, expresses significant doubts. She argues that her clients seek human closeness and genuine connection—something that a machine fundamentally cannot provide. This position reflects a deep cultural difference: while Berlin is working on the future, traditional markets cling to the human component of intimacy.

The Ethical Limits of Virtual Intimacy

Beyond purely business aspects, an important psychological and ethical question arises. Alice Child, a sexologist from Sydney, acknowledges the prejudice-free experience that AI brothels like Cybrothel could enable. However, she warns strongly against replacing human intimacy with digital alternatives or using them to avoid anxiety disorders.

Her view on the issue is profound: a space without judgment is simultaneously a space without vulnerability. Sexuality, by nature, is vulnerable—and this vulnerability is central to genuine human connection. People who struggle with intimacy and turn to AI-supported solutions in the long term may risk losing the ability to experience real emotional and physical closeness with another person.

The debate around Cybrothel thus reveals no simple answer. Smetana’s vision of a hybrid future—in which sex exists both digitally and physically—clashes with legitimate concerns about mental health and human development. While Cybrothel acts as a pioneer of a technology-driven sex industry, fundamental questions about the long-term impacts of such innovations on human relationships and well-being remain open.