Last week, I posted about digital Tarot readings and if they “count.”
I mentioned I’d explore AI Tarot readings in this week’s Tarot Tutorials. Now, I’ve had plenty of “digital” Tarot readings, where I’ve had cards pulled using an app or asked Google for a random Tarot card. But I’d never had an AI reading.
I asked Chat GPT for a Tarot Reading. Here was my experience.
Chat GPT gave me the option of a 3, 5, or 7 card reading, answering questions like, “What is the deeper truth?” or “What can I expect from the future?” I chose a 5 card reading asking about deeper truth. It gave me five Major Arcana cards, all upright, with detailed explanations.
I recognized mine and my colleagues’ work.
It was very obvious to me that the bot was pulling from the work of prolific Tarot writers. Some of the things it said were pretty close to things I’ve written here on this Substack.
When I’ve had digital readings, I know that I am reading the work of an app developer experienced with Tarot, or an experienced Tarot person familiar with app creation. Even if the interpretations on digital readings are generic and may share similarities with those of other readers, it’s still quite apparent that these interpretations generally rooted to the app author and/or creator.
This AI reading was pulling information from thousands (or millions?) of readings that others have done.
It applied previous questions I’d asked it to the reading
In a pinch, I’ve asked the bot about meat-done-temps, “Where else has that actor appeared…” and when exhausted and desperate in the thin hours of the night, questions about getting a toddler to sleep. Lo and behold, my “insecurities about cooking and parenting” were referenced in the reading…even though I wasn’t asking about those.
This AI Reading pulled from what I’ve already told it, surely pre-selecting cards that would match what it assumed I wanted to know. Part of the mystique of Tarot and the trust in it is the shuffle and dealing process. An ethical Tarot reader would not secretly pre-select cards to show a querent in order to “better match” what they assumed they wanted to hear.
Clearly, using an AI chat bot for any other purpose (whether to see when your favorite show’s new season starts or to rehash the fight you had with your partner) will affect the answer your AI Tarot reader gives you.
It deliberately kept things vague….to keep me asking more questions
I tell my clients that asking vague questions will offer cryptic answers, and the more specific their question, the more specific their answer. That leaves the choice to them of how pointed they want their answer to be.
But even though I told the AI Tarot bot that I wanted a direct answer with no sugar-coating, I didn’t get one. The answer gave just enough information to keep me wanting more…but not enough answers to keep me fulfilled. This reading, like most things chat-bot related, was more about keeping me on the platform than giving me the answers I needed.
It ended the reading with suggested questions
Figuring out what you want to know next is one of the key parts of a Tarot reading. If someone comes into a reading with me asking about whether they should keep dating the person, part of our time together is figuring out what it is they really want to know: “Am I ready to date?” “Am I over my last relationship?”
But this AI Chat bot ended the reading with questions it suggested I ask next. Not only is this in line with attempting to keep me on the platform rather than helping me find resolution, it interrupted the valuable process of potentially figuring out what it is I might truly want to know.
Privacy risks.
I was most unnerved by it bringing my previous questions into the Tarot reading. We are only at the beginning of finding out how the AI chat bots are using our data. Getting a Tarot reading is a very sensitive process. We bring our fears and our secrets to a session. Maybe loading those into a chat bot will do nothing to us in the long run…or it could lead to humiliation or that information being used against us in terrible ways.
Privacy and confidentiality are two of the most important things I offer as a Tarot reader, and they are two of the things I value most when I see a Tarot reader. It was MORE than obvious to me that working with an AI chat bot has none of those things.
The Take-Away:
- An AI Tarot reading has enormous privacy risks
- It interrupts the necessary line of thought by trying to shape what we “ought” to wonder, instead of what we actually do
- It has no interest in us finding resolution, only interest in giving us more of our time
While my specific experience did not pose any risks to mental health, it was very clear how easily it could affect the mental health of someone in a more vulnerable situation.