Robots may be the future, but can they predict it?
From layman to royalty, politicians to A-list celebs, with a list of acolytes that includes Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth I, Ronald Reagan, and Lady Gaga, human beings have long sought the counsel of astrologers to help guide their decisions.
Now, according to recent research, the oracle of AI has become a questionable light in the dark for Gen Z.
A new EduBrain study found that 4 in 10 Gen Zers have used ChatGPT to write a personalized horoscope or predict their future, with only 1 in 5 saying AI got it right.
Will this marriage of tech and divination eclipse (pun intended) astrologers as we know them?
One astrologer says the answer is nuanced.
“AI is an incredible guide when asked incredible questions. However, it is a large language model, and unless it has been trained on appropriate historical texts, it won’t be pulling from the same sources as a well-studied human astrologer,” astrologer Rachel Ruth Tate told The Post.
However, Tate says future seekers can use AI for astrology info so long as they lean into specificity, noting that feeding ChatGPT your sun sign and expecting a meaningful response won’t cut it.
“One-sentence questions won’t give you a life-changing revelation,” she said.
“Give it your birth date, exact time, and location. Also mention your Moon (emotional world), rising sign (how life meets you), and where current planets are interacting with your personal placements.”
AI is designed to simplify information and explain it separately, bullet points instead of constellations, if you will. But, Tate explains that astrology is less a list of traits and more the study of how the energies of different planetary influences relate to one another.
“One part of your chart may show that you want stability, while the other may show that you need excitement. AI might describe it as ‘you value security and freedom,’ which is technically correct, but it may not explain how these two sides work together. Astrology is powerful when you see how these pieces interact,” she explained.
Tate maintains that AI is only as good as the sources it scours, and as such, she recommends being clear with the bot about which wells of wisdom to chug and churn from.
“Training AI on a scholarly subset of western Hellenistic astrological authors, texts, and sources can create helpful guardrails that maximize efficacy and accuracy of its delineations.”
She shared that AI reads patterns and, for that reason, can be a good tool for analyzing or understanding technical aspects, but not necessarily applying them.
“AI might tell you that Pluto is activating your family sector. Technically? Correct. But astrology is deeper and more personal. It’s not just ‘this planet equals this outcome,’” said Tate.
Just as AI can support but not replace therapy, ChatGPT can provide information but not human interaction and expert integration.
“AI might not know you’re going through a breakup, you’re experiencing family pressure, or stepping into another stage of your life,” said Tate.
“These things affect the interpretation of specific events. ChatGPT cannot put the pattern inside your real-life context without knowing your full personal story.”
People tend to turn to astrology and AI to assuage uncertainty. However, in both mediums, Tate says the objective should be insight, not absolutes.
“People usually ask questions like ‘Is my relationship over?, ‘Will I get this job?’, or ‘Is this the right person for me?’ But astrology is not a prediction of the future with simple yes-or-no answers.”
When seeking the astro advice of AI, Tate again underscores the importance of direct, actionable questioning.
“You should ask questions like ‘What mistakes do I repeat?’ or ‘What skills should I focus on?” AI can give you a clear direction. What you do with it is still on you.”
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