AI and Traditional Culture in South Korea: The Rise of "AI + Chinese Metaphysics"
In South Korea, a unique cultural phenomenon has emerged - "AI + Chinese Metaphysics". Two apps, HelloBot and FORCETELLER, have combined AI technology with traditional metaphysics and achieved great success. HelloBot, launched in late 2017, integrates various types of divination content such as constellations, tarot cards, palmistry, and Chinese fortune - telling. It positions itself as a new - generation AI - chat - based "personal fortune - telling expert". Users can have conversations with different chatbots, get daily fortune - telling reminders, and ask questions about love, health, wealth, and career. For example, when using the AI tarot card prediction, the user asks "Will my ex - partner contact me?", and the AI will guide the user to select a tarot card and then provide an interpretation with a drawn picture of the card, including probability, timing, and advice.
HelloBot also incorporates many Chinese cultural elements. For instance, it uses the Four Pillars of Destiny to explain fortune - telling, gives baby - naming suggestions based on the Five Elements theory, and explores the personality traits of individuals and their partners according to the Chinese zodiac. In 2025, HelloBot has an average monthly income of 460 million won, and its income in July increased by 16.7% compared to June.
Another app, FORCETELLER, developed by the South Korean company UN7QI3 Inc., focuses more on astrology. Users can get daily real - time astrological charts, accurate to specific astrological houses such as the rising sign, sun sign, and moon sign, and receive daily fortune - telling guidance, including lucky items, colors, and numbers, as well as things to pay special attention to. It also offers customized fortune - telling reports, exploring how the arrangement of constellations affects daily health and tracking emotional and spiritual changes through celestial movements. In the first half of 2025, the total income of HelloBot and FORCETELLER was about 4.71 billion won, making them both phenomenon - level apps in the South Korean market.