Psychoanalyst Jamieson Webster launches a new column for CULTURED titled "Neurotica," exploring the intersection of psychoanalysis, technology, and sexuality. In the debut installment, she interviews artist and theorist Mindy Seu about her work "A SEXUAL HISTORY OF THE INTERNET," which traces how sex workers were integral to developing digital platforms like chat rooms, e-commerce, and webcams, only to have their innovations co-opted by Big Tech. Webster reflects on how AI, chatbots, and online intimacy are reshaping human desire, pleasure, and relationships, drawing on Freud's pleasure-principle and contemporary anxieties about AI psychosis and digital dependency.
This article matters because it bridges psychoanalytic theory with urgent cultural questions about artificial intelligence, digital intimacy, and the commodification of desire. By framing sex workers as pioneers of digital innovation rather than victims, Seu and Webster challenge mainstream narratives about technology and labor. The column signals a growing trend of psychoanalytic perspectives entering art and cultural criticism, offering a nuanced lens for understanding how technology is reprogramming human subjectivity and social bonds in an era of rapid technological change.