Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

This picture taken on April 15, 2026 shows a woman speaking with an artificial intelligence-assisted shaman robot on display in a machine to have her fortunes at a Korean shamanism theme shop in Seoul. The sound of tinkling bells drifts through an alley in central Seoul -- an unmistakable sign that a shaman is near, though in this case the mystic is a robot powered by artificial intelligence. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY  SKorea-AI-religion-shaman / REPORTAGE BY Kang Jin-kyu

Article (news)

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1776394605898Screenshot 2026-04-17 105636.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">This picture taken on April 15, 2026 shows a woman speaking with an artificial intelligence-assisted shaman robot on display in a machine to have her fortunes at a Korean shamanism theme shop in Seoul. <em>Photo by Jung Yeon-je/AFP </em></span></span></span></div><p>SEOUL, South Korea — 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.</p><p>Many South Koreans still place great value in shamanic traditions, which purport to divine a person&#x27;s future based on the day and time they were born.</p><p>Practitioners, known as &quot;mudang&quot;, 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.</p><p>However, at Vinaida, a cultural products store in the capital, they are computer-generated avatars on screens.</p><p>Visitor Kim Da-ae, 36, called it a &quot;unique experience&quot;.</p><p>A visit with a real shaman can feel &quot;scary and burdensome&quot;, she told AFP.</p><p>&quot;But I was just walking by and read this AI sign... So I walked in with a light heart.&quot;</p><p>Portraits of virtual shamans resembling characters from the popular animation &quot;KPop Demon Hunters&quot; greet passersby at Vinaida, which means &quot;I pray earnestly&quot; in Korean.</p><p>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.</p><p>The technology combines voice recognition with a generative AI chatbot so that the shaman and the customer can interact.</p><p>It then refers to a centuries-old belief system called &quot;saju&quot;, or the &quot;four pillars of destiny&quot;, to interpret their fate according to the year, month and day of their birth.</p><p>Customers then receive a plastic &quot;talisman&quot; bearing a digital QR code that they can scan with their phones to read their fortunes in detail.</p><p>Across the room, a bespectacled robot uses a camera and a mechanized arm to sketch and &quot;read&quot; a visitor&#x27;s face, foretelling their prospects.</p><p>&quot;A bright, well-balanced fortune. Resilient in the face of change, with auspicious relationships,&quot; an impressed Kim read from a printout.</p><p>&quot;I felt a sense of similarity with my fate because it matched my own personality, like valuing relationships while also being practical,&quot; she said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>TWIST ON TRADITION<br/></strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Fortune-telling is deeply embedded in South Korean life, with newspapers publishing daily horoscopes based on &quot;saju&quot; principles.</p><p>Recent cultural hits such as &quot;KPop Demon Hunters&quot;—Netflix&#x27;s most-watched film of all time -- have riffed on shamanic traditions.</p><p>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).</p><p>&quot;Customers have something tangible or meaningful to take away, which is probably why there aren&#x27;t many who feel dissatisfied,&quot; Kim Hae-seol said.</p><p>&quot;We thought it had the potential to succeed, so we seized on this concept.&quot;</p><p>Customers can talk to the virtual shamans in four languages—Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese.</p><p>Singaporean tourist Amos Chun was trying his luck when AFP visited the shop on Wednesday.</p><p>The robot shaman told him to &quot;avoid impulse spending&quot;—advice he took to heart.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s quite a good reading, coming from AI,&quot; Chun said, laughing.</p><p>&quot;Because that&#x27;s something that I do.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><strong><br/><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IXLC9hSqrOs?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p5qJEsIt8QI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5jjW8ugpGEc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>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.</p>

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.

'AI shamans' tell the fortunes of curious South Koreans

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'AI shamans' tell the fortunes of curious South Koreans

Kang Jin-kyu,

Agence France-Presse

Published April 17, 2026 10:59 AM PHT

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Agence France-Presse

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