SEOUL, April 17 — 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...
A woman speaks with an artificial intelligence-assisted shaman robot to have her fortune told in a booth at a Korean shamanism theme shop in Seoul on April 15, 2026. — AFP pic! Plus, enjoy an additional FREE RM10 when you sign up using code VERSAMM10 with a min. cash-in of RM100 today. T&Cs apply.
SEOUL, April 17 — 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, colourful 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.
A visit with a real shaman can feel “scary and burdensome”, she told AFP.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 mechanised 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 .
“Customers have something tangible or meaningful to take away, which is probably why there aren’t many who feel dissatisfied,” Kim Hae-seol said.Customers can talk to the virtual shamans in four languages – Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese.The robot shaman told him to “avoid impulse spending” – advice he took to heart.Can a rock star ship a hit game? Imagine Dragons’ frontman Dan Reynolds is about to find out with ‘Last Flag’
AI Shaman Mudang Vinaida Saju Kpop Demon Hunters
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