Seoul, 17 April. (askanews) – The sound of bells spreads in a street in the center of Seoul, an unmistakable sign of the presence of a shaman, even if in this case the mystic is a robot equipped with artificial intelligence. In the cultural goods shop “Vinaida”, which in Korean means “I pray fervently”, consultations are offered with computer-generated avatars. Passers-by are greeted by portraits of virtual shamans reminiscent of the characters from the popular anime “KPop Demon Hunters”.
In Korea, “AI Shamans” are very popular, shaman who gives consultations via AI
“It was a bit scary, I felt overwhelmed. When you pass through these parts, there are many places like this – a visitor, Kim Da-ae, tells AFP, referring to the shamans’ houses – I was a little hesitant to enter, but as I passed, I saw something with ‘AI’ written on it, which intrigued me. But only as a joke…”.
“I believe that face reading was the most interesting part for me. He explained this and that depending on how my face looked. I also looked at details like my moles, and since I heard similar interpretations, I found it even more intriguing,” she added.
How the shamanic artificial intelligence service works
In a booth, you type your name, gender and date of birth into the computer, then the virtual shaman asks you to explain your problem into headphones.
“It’s a great service, and the advice they give is, in my opinion, quite reliable. In particular, they recommend avoiding impulse purchases, because it’s something I do often,” revealed another customer, Amos Chun, a tourist from Singapore.
The Korean Saju belief system
The technology, which combines voice recognition with a chatbot based on generative artificial intelligence, draws on a centuries-old belief system called “saju”, or the “four pillars of destiny”, to interpret fate based on the year, month and day of a person’s birth. Vinaida’s manager, Kim Hae-Seol, explained:
“In business, you have to do something new to find an unexplored market. We thought this idea could work, we defined the concept and, since many people in companies were interested in the sector, this allowed us to move forward.”
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