Palm reading, a personal horoscope, and future predictions can now be ordered from a chatbot — around the clock, without an appointment, and without unnecessary questions. And traditional fortune tellers and psychics have gained a serious digital competitor.
Dozens of chatbots already offer astrological forecasts, palmistry, and daily horoscopes. Users turn to them no less often than to live specialists, and sometimes more often — because of accessibility and anonymity. Such competition is causing alarm among professional esotericists, who see it as a direct threat to their business.
Psychics vs. algorithms
Some industry representatives accuse neural networks of deception. In their view, algorithms lack empathy and that very "connection" with a person that cannot be imitated. However, the industry itself has long-standing trust problems — and some of its representatives do not hide this.
"Unfortunately, our industry has been associated with fraud for hundreds of years, and we constantly have to fight this. We are always looking for ways to prove that we are real, sincere, and honest," notes Laurin Kellett, who has worked as an intuitive coach and clairvoyant for ten years.
The entire industry is under threat
For the esoteric business, the main threat is the convenience of digital services. Fortune tellers and astrologers now have to prove why an in-person session is better than a conversation with a chatbot. At the same time, many services give the first answer for free but may charge a considerable sum for a detailed forecast — which only increases pressure on live specialists.
Similar changes are taking place in other fields: neural networks are already becoming a source of additional income for many, and technology is accelerating productivity growth in a number of industries. AI skills will be needed by most employees in the coming years. In CIS countries and Russia, fortune tellers, astrologers, and psychics are also in considerable demand — and local specialists will have to compete not only with each other but also with algorithms.
The market for mystical services is repeating the path that other professions have already taken: where value can be digitized and scaled, technology inevitably displaces intermediaries. The only question is how quickly audiences will get used to trusting predictions from a machine.
Cryptalist analysis: The case of fortune-telling chatbots is a clear illustration of a broader trend: neural networks are capturing niches where people with a "personal touch" historically dominated. For investors, this is a signal that AI monetization is moving beyond the corporate segment and capturing consumer service markets, which expands the sector's long-term potential. However, the sustainability of such business models will depend on user trust and willingness to pay for "predictions" rather than for real value.