‘AI shamans’ tell fortunes of curious South Koreans

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The sound of tinkling bells drifts through an alley in central Seoul, an unmistakable sign that a shaman is near — although in this case the mystic is a robot powered by artificial intelligence.

Many South Koreans still place great value in shamanic traditions, which purport to divine a person’s future based on the day and time they were born.

Practitioners, known as “mudang,” wear long, colorful robes and perform dances and chants to commune with the gods — sometimes even walking on sharp blades to demonstrate their spiritual connection.

However, at Vinaida, a cultural products store in the capital, they are computer-generated avatars on screens.

Visitor Kim Da-ae, 36, called it a “unique experience.”

A visit with a real shaman can feel “scary and burdensome,” she told Agence France-Presse.

“But I was just walking by and read this AI sign... So I walked in with a light heart.”

Portraits of virtual shamans resembling characters from the popular animation “KPop Demon Hunters” greet passersby at Vinaida, which means “I pray earnestly” in Korean.

Inside a booth, Kim typed her name, gender and date of birth into a computer, before a shaman — a suspended mask with the image of a human face projected onto it — asked her to explain her concern through a headset.

The technology combines voice recognition with a generative AI chatbot so that the shaman and the customer can interact.

It then refers to a centuries-old belief system called “saju” or the “four pillars of destiny” to interpret their fate according to the year, month and day of their birth.

Customers then receive a plastic “talisman” bearing a digital QR code that they can scan with their phones to read their fortunes in detail.

Across the room, a bespectacled robot uses a camera and a mechanized arm to sketch and “read” a visitor’s face, foretelling their prospects.

“A bright, well-balanced fortune. Resilient in the face of change, with auspicious relationships,” an impressed Kim read from a printout.

“I felt a sense of similarity with my fate because it matched my own personality, like valuing relationships while also being practical,” she said.

Fortune-telling is deeply embedded in South Korean life, with newspapers publishing daily horoscopes based on “saju” principles.

Recent cultural hits such as “KPop Demon Hunters” — Netflix’s most-watched film of all time — have riffed on shamanic traditions.

Vinaida has attracted around 100 visitors a day since opening in February, according to manager Kim Hae-seol. Each service costs up to 8,000 won ($5.50).

“Customers have something tangible or meaningful to take away, which is probably why there aren’t many who feel dissatisfied,” Kim Hae-seol said.

“We thought it had the potential to succeed, so we seized on this concept.”

Customers can talk to the virtual shamans in four languages — Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese.

Singaporean tourist Amos Chun was trying his luck when AFP visited the shop on Wednesday.

The robot shaman told him to “avoid impulse spending” — advice he took to heart.

“It’s quite a good reading, coming from AI,” Chun said, laughing.

“Because that’s something that I do.”