AI Fortune-Teller: Juxtaposing Shaman and AI to Reveal Human Agency in the Age of AI

Abstract

This speculative video piece showcases participants interacting with a career counseling AI agent, unaware that the responses were actually derived from the fortunetelling of a mudang (a Korean traditional shaman). Our work captures this deception and documents participants' reactions, showcasing shifts in their initial perceptions of the agent's advice following the reveal. Notably, even after learning that the advice came from a mudang rather than an AI, participants did not change their initial attitudes toward the advice they received. This raises questions about the perceived importance of AI's explainability and accuracy. By juxtaposing scientific and pre-scientific approaches, we aim to provoke discussions on human agency in the age of AI. We argue that, regardless of AI's advancements, we continue to navigate life in fundamentally human ways -- wonderfully messy and uncertain.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: Mr. Ewha, a mudang who read the future of our participants
• Figure 2: A translated conversation between one of the participants and our "AI" agent