Staff Reports
Megyn Kelly sat down with Dr. Leonard Sax, the physician and author best known for Boys Adrift, for a blunt conversation about a problem many parents have known in their guts for years: pornography and new AI hookup tools are teaching boys the wrong lessons about sex. The episode gets to the heart of the matter — what boys are learning online, how it warps expectations, and what that means for young men’s health and relationships.
Pornography: Unrealistic Scripts and Bad Manners
Dr. Leonard Sax argues what plenty of parents already suspect: modern pornography teaches a script where bodies are props, consent is optional, and intimacy is replaced by performance. That’s not just moralizing — it changes what boys expect. Researchers have repeatedly found strong associations between heavy porn use and lower sexual satisfaction, altered arousal patterns, and even reported erectile problems among younger men. But let’s be clear: most of the studies are observational. They show a connection, not a neat, sealed cause‑and‑effect line. Still, when tens of thousands of boys are raised on edited, extreme images, you don’t need a randomized trial to see a cultural problem.
AI Girlfriends, Deepfakes, and a Culture of Convenience
Enter “AI girlfriends” and companion chatbots — apps that promise companionship, availability and, often, sexualized interactions on demand. Platforms like Replika and newer services have found big male audiences. Mix that with easy deepfake tools and you’ve got a pipeline for normalizing one‑sided, objectifying relationships and non‑consensual imagery. Policymakers and platforms are finally waking up: investigators, congressional letters, and new prosecutions show the law is scrambling to catch up. Meanwhile the tech industry keeps inventing ways to sell dependency and absolve responsibility. Shocking? Hardly.
Is Porn Causing Erectile Dysfunction — Or Revealing It?
Clinic reports and web surveys have flagged higher rates of erectile dysfunction symptoms in young men than older surveys did decades ago. Some urologists now screen for heavy pornography use as a possible factor, and some young men report recovery after cutting back. But experts warn the literature is messy: depression, relationship issues, meds, and other medical conditions can all muddy the waters. The American diagnostic manuals still don’t list “porn addiction” as a formal illness, which makes clinical claims tricky. That said, when a pattern of unhealthy sexual learning meets a medical symptom, it’s reasonable to treat both the behavior and the biology.
What Parents, Clinicians, and Policymakers Should Do
This is not an argument for bans and moral panic — it’s an argument for common sense. Parents need straight, age‑appropriate talk about consent, bodies, and respect, not awkward lectures or silence. Schools should teach honest sex education that distinguishes fantasy from real life. Clinicians should screen young men for problematic porn use when sexual dysfunction shows up and offer behavioral as well as medical help. And regulators should force platforms to take responsibility for deepfakes and sexualized AI products that train a generation to prefer servile pixels over real human relationships. Tech companies selling “AI girlfriends” while claiming moral high ground on other issues get a special mention for hypocrisy.
Megyn Kelly’s interview with Dr. Sax is a wake‑up call more parents need to hear. The evidence isn’t all settled, but the risk is plain: a culture that sexualizes, objectifies, and automates intimacy will leave behind boys who don’t know how to love, respect, or connect. That’s worth doing something about — before another generation is taught how to “hook up” by algorithms and edited footage.
