Venture capitalists pour millions into astrology

Artificial intelligence penetrates deeper and deeper into a variety of areas of activity. He did not bypass one of the most ancient – the art of predictions. In recent years, the number of astrotech start-ups and the size of venture investments in them has increased. “Kommersant” talks about the integration of the most modern technologies and one of the most anti-scientific ways to earn money.

Calculating the future

New York has a new attraction. It is located in the Iconic Magazines iconic store, queues for which have now become the norm. This is an apparatus that simultaneously resembles a large washing machine, a computer, and something else that evokes associations with Star Wars.

On the front panel, several indicators with the inscriptions “Moon”, “Sun”, images of the planets shine. There is also a camera, a small screen and a disk resembling a safe lock. With this disc, you can choose one of 100 questions that appear on the screen. From “Should I leave New York?” and “How can I work better?” to “How do I deal with the ‘warning bells in my head?'” and “Should I create my own religion?”.

After that, the user should enter the date, time and place of his birth and wait. The screen will display: “All answers are based on astrological calculations.” After that, the device will take a photo of the user and in a couple of seconds will issue a ticket with the answer.

Despite the fact that some users admit that it seems to them that someone is sitting inside the massive apparatus, in fact, the machine does everything without human intervention. Responses are generated by GPT-3 and ChatGPT technologies.

An apparatus that predicts the future based on “astrological calculations” is the brainchild of Co-Star, one of the technology companies operating in the field, dubbed “astrotech”. This area is developing quite actively, working at the intersection of opposites – astrology and artificial intelligence.

A few years ago, such integration seemed almost insane. But now this is a popular direction, quite legitimate from all interested points of view: the astrologers themselves, their clients and, importantly, investors.

The stars say: you will be rich

Co-Star may serve as a fairly accurate reflection of the “mystic services market” trends. In recent years, in the West, it has experienced significant growth.

Demand (and supply) has skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic. Technological breakthroughs have been added to this: cloud computing, analysis of large data sets, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Astrologers, as they say themselves, were able to provide their clients with a “better product.”

So says Chani Nicholas, one of the most popular astrologers in the United States and one of the first to use AI-based algorithms to generate horoscopes. AI brings more precision to the ancient art of horoscopes, she says.

The same Co-Star is the creator of one of the most popular astrological applications in the world. The company was founded in 2017. Two years later, she managed to raise $ 5 million from two quite serious venture capital companies – Californian Maveron & Aspect Ventures and New York 14W.

Similar results were shown by other American astrotechnical startups. For example, Sanctuary (now it is perhaps the most downloaded astrological application in the US) and Pattern.

The analytical company Tracxn reported that from 2018 to 2022, at least five new startups in the field of astrotech appeared in the world. This trend is most active in the US and India. By data research company Business Research Insights, the global market for astrological applications is $2.065 billion and will grow to $7.85 billion by 2027.

The main engines of growth are interest from millennials and the use of the latest technologies, which fuels this interest and, importantly, makes the products of modern astrologers much more reliable.

Not very scientific but very artificial

The advances in astrotechnology in recent years have undoubtedly inspired both service providers and, just as importantly, investors. With the improvement of chatbot technology, the prospects for the market began to look even more rosy. After all, they allow you to bring astrotechnological applications as close as possible to “real” astrologers.

We are talking about the fact that until now the use of AI algorithms was limited to compiling horoscopes and “reading the stars”. Apps could not, by definition, answer – as human astrologers do – open-ended questions or personal advice.

The car, which is still in Iconic Magazines, is a kind of advertisement introducing a new service from Co-Star – The Void application. Unlike existing applications, it is just capable of answering open-ended questions by issuing AI-generated answers using a database of prepared texts.

For example, an AI astrologer’s answer to the same question about “wake-up calls” was: “Your “wake-up calls” also reflect your tendency to have high expectations and fear of conflict. Location of Jupiter and Saturn (in your horoscope.— “b”) suggests a craving for perfectionism and a fear of rejection. By avoiding conflict, you can thereby limit your potential for growth and (creation.— “b”) important relationships. Remember, conflict is an integral part of intimacy. Practice them with sympathy and don’t hold on to unrealistic expectations.”

Of course, astrotech raises a lot of questions and claims from both consumers and practicing astrologers. It may seem to the first that the answer to their question is a largely random set of phrases. The second is that AI applications are programmed to fail.

“AI is great for splitting atoms,” says Susan Miller, a New York-based astrologer who believes that this kind of technology should not appear in areas that have to do with people’s emotions. “Machines are wrong. And a person who receives such an answer can then walk all his life with such an incorrect answer in his head.

However, these are all matters of faith. As for the direction of business development and its prospects, both the creators of astrological AI applications themselves and their investors look ahead with unconditional optimism. For example, Anargya Vardhana, one of the VCs who invested in Co-Star, believes that the company has the potential to become as big a player as, say, Spotify or Tinder.

“Perhaps there is some kind of aura of something unscientific around all this— she says.– However (Creators of Co-Star. – “b”) did a great job, understood it and invested (in their product.— “b”) as much science as possible.”

The fact that the use of new technologies will attract more consumers to the market (and, therefore, make it more attractive to investors) is also said by consumers themselves. The New York Times, for example, cites the words of a young woman who, in her own words, does not believe much in astrology. According to her, AI can change her attitude towards the subject. “I am more inclined to believe that I am being deceived by an old woman bent over a crystal ball than a computer.” quotes her newspaper.

Viktor Buk