Clients have drifted away from Song Oh-soon’s fortune-telling village on the edge of Seoul, preferring online AI-powered divination to the centuries-old prophesying tradition still practised there.<\/p>\n
At 86, Song is one of the last members of a community of visually impaired practitioners that drew generations of South Koreans seeking answers and advice about everything from illness and money to love and fate.<\/p>\n
In one of the world’s most AI-connected societies,\u00a0the village’s greatest challenge is not fading belief in fortune-telling, but the way it is consumed.<\/p>\n
Song remains adamantly offline, relying on the “Four Pillars of Destiny” astrology in braille and on her four decades of experience in careful listening — a skill her automated competition cannot match.<\/p>\n
“There were people who came here wanting to die,” Song told AFP in northern Seoul’s Mia village. “I persuaded them to keep living.”<\/p>\n
“I also once wanted to die, but I found this work and survived.”<\/p>\n
Today, silence is often Song’s only visitor. The community was once home to 70 or 80 practitioners, but fewer than 20 remain.<\/p>\n
Many have died. Their shops down narrow alleys sit dark behind faded signs advertising “traditional fortune-telling houses”.<\/p>\n
“When I go outside for a walk, it’s quiet,” Song said in her tiny room that serves as both home and consulting space.\u00a0“It feels lonely.”<\/p>\n
– The human factor –<\/p>\n
Figures show South Korea’s fortune-telling business is growing — worth 1.4 trillion won ($986 million) as of 2024, according to startup analysis firm InnoForest.<\/p>\n
Many now turn to mobile apps and artificial intelligence chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini for readings, a survey by market researcher Embrain said this year.<\/p>\n
Occasionally, though, someone still seeks out a human intervention.<\/p>\n
University professor Oh Ji-hye for years walked past the village without going inside, opting instead for AI readings during her commute.<\/p>\n
Only recently, anxious about her career, did she turn to Song for a phone consultation.<\/p>\n
“It felt good that someone rather than AI was concentrating on and listening to my story,” the 44-year-old said.<\/p>\n
Mia village emerged in 1966 after the first blind fortune-teller settled there, according to the Seongbuk Cultural Centre, which researches the district’s history.<\/p>\n
As Seoul boomed in the 1970s and 1980s the neighbourhood enjoyed cheap rents and a constant foot traffic of potential customers by the time Song arrived in 1984.<\/p>\n
She lost her sight in a childhood illness before the Korean War and by 11 was studying Korean fortune-telling — predicting subjects’ futures based on their birth dates and times.<\/p>\n
– Outread by algorithms –<\/p>\n
She was a professional by 16, working in an industry where many people with disabilities — especially women — have been historically confined owing to discrimination.<\/p>\n
“Nowadays, if a visually impaired person is musically talented, they can pursue a career in music,” she said.<\/p>\n
“But back when I lost my sight, there was nothing else I could do besides this job.”<\/p>\n
Over her lifetime, South Korea has witnessed the devastation of the 1950-53 war, periods of military rule and the 1990s financial crisis.<\/p>\n
After periods of hardship and loss, the nation has emerged as a global financial powerhouse — with recent astronomical profits from manufacturing AI microchips.<\/p>\n
Those gains have lifted the nation’s fortunes. Clients who once came for advice about medical ailments can now head to hospital instead.<\/p>\n
But the technology has drawn away clients from Song’s 50,000-won sessions in favour of free or affordable AI readings.<\/p>\n
Most of the remaining practitioners have little online presence, and many cannot be found through major search platforms.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think people are less interested in fortune-telling,” Song said.\u00a0“But these days, they look online, so they do not come all the way to us.”<\/p>\n
Despite the village’s decline, Song believes no fate is set in stone.<\/p>\n
“If you put in the effort and make wise judgements, good fortune will come your way three times in your life,” she said.<\/p>\n
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