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…
South Korea’s AI shamans foretell a future in old tradition
