Kenneth Glad
People have always looked for answers to life’s biggest mysteries. Finding someone to guide you through the unknown is usually a deeply personal experience. But today, a totally different kind of advisor is sliding into your smartphone to offer comfort.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the world of fortune telling. Software developers are launching countless apps and websites that promise automated horoscopes, tarot readings, and clairvoyance.
Some platforms use text bots masked behind pictures of smiling women, according to The Guardian. They charge users a fee to hear predictions about their love lives or past lives.
The technology moves fast. Human spiritual practitioners are scrambling to figure out how to compete with software that never sleeps.
Fighting for trust
Professional psychic Lauryn Kellett told the newspaper that the field already battles a difficult reputation. Adding computers to the mix makes building trust even harder.
“Our industry has, unfortunately, been associated with scams for hundreds of years, and we have to constantly be ahead of that,” Kellett said.
Many human readers now clearly state that they do not use automation. Some even ask clients to post videos so everyone knows real people are involved.
Kellett explained, “ignoring AI and how it could impact our industry is irresponsible … AI is here to stay, and it’s going to change our industry, and maybe not in the ways we think.”
Losing the connection
Critics worry that handing complex emotional decisions to a machine could cause real harm. Because chatbots only learn from statistical data patterns, they do not actually understand the weight of human struggle.
Anthropologist Sally Applin noted that these models lack the cultural background of real interactions.
“What is also missing is contextual awareness, the ‘there there’ of human social relationships,” Applin told The Guardian.
Another psychic, Ahna Hendrix, said true guidance helps people trust their own instincts. She finds this tech trend deeply dangerous.
Just a computer
“If we start outsourcing that, what are we left with?” Hendrix asked.
Tech companies insist their apps only explore emotions and do not make actual predictions. But many of these developers refuse to explain how their models work or how they handle sensitive user data.
Kellett remains confident that machines cannot replace a real spiritual bond:
“Psychic ability itself is the ability to connect to a divine source, and AI cannot do that.”
