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So I did a thing.
You’ve probably seen the wave of free AI tarot readers popping up everywhere online. Instagram ads. TikTok links. Dodgy little websites promising insight into your soul with just one click. I thought, fuck it, what if this AI tarot readingis actually good? What if it can do me out of a job?
I mean, I’ve seen people say AI tarot card readings are just as insightful as human ones. And while I’m all for tech making stuff more accessible, part of me needed to know: could tarot AI actually match the depth, nuance, and connection of a proper reading with a real-life human?
So I fired up ChatGPT, turned on the voice mode, and asked it for a love reading. No prep. No fancy prompt engineering. Just: “Can you give me a tarot reading about my love life?”
What Made Me Try a Free AI Tarot Reader
AI Is Creeping Into Every Corner
AI’s popping up in all the places you wouldn’t expect. Tarot, astrology, healing. Places that used to feel deeply human and intuitive are now getting a shiny digital makeover. It’s a bit surreal watching ancient, sacred tools being filtered through chatbot scripts and trendy little websites.
I kept seeing AI tarot bots hyped up online, promising deep insight with zero human interaction. So I thought, fine. Let’s see if this shit actually works. Let’s see if it says anything real or if it just strings together card meanings like a cut-and-paste job.
I Was Curious… and Maybe a Bit Defensive
Honestly? I was wondering if it could actually threaten what I do. If it gave a solid reading, would people start going to bots instead of booking in with real readers like me? That thought made me stop and sit with it for a moment.
What if it’s good enough? What if the reading lands, even just a little? That’s the kind of thing that sticks in your mind when your whole job is built around intuition, presence, and connection. I had to know what we were up against.
How I Set the ChatGPT Tarot Test Up
I asked it to roleplay as a tarot reader and give me a no bullshit AI tarot reading. I wanted to see if it could read like I do, with confidence, directness, and clarity.
I wasn’t looking for some polite, vague interpretation. I wanted to know if it could tap into the energy of a proper reading. No fluff. No spiritual nonsense. Just straight-up insight, the way I give it to clients.
I kept the structure simple: five cards, focused on my love life. The kind of thing most of my clients come in with. I wasn’t trying to trick it, just wanted to see if it could hold the energy of a proper reading the way I would.
Here’s Exactly What the AI Tarot Card Reading Told Me
The Conversation
Me: I’d like you to give me a brutal, no bullshit tarot reading for my love life. I’d like it to be five cards.
ChatGPT: Alright—let’s dive into it. I’ll pull five cards and give you the no-nonsense interpretation.
So, first card is the Two of Cups—which is pretty solid for love. It’s all about connection, mutual attraction, and harmony. So that’s a good sign!
Second card, we’ve got the Three of Swords—which is a bit of a downer. It usually means heartbreak or some kind of emotional pain—so maybe there’s some old wounds or something that needs healing.
Third card is the Knight of Wands—which is all about passion and excitement, but maybe a bit impulsive. Could be someone coming in hot and heavy—or just a burst of excitement in your love life.
Fourth card is The Hermit—which suggests a bit of introspection is needed. Maybe take some time to reflect on what you truly want.
And finally, we’ve got the Ten of Cups—which is the ultimate happiness card. It’s about emotional fulfilment and long-term happiness.
So, overall, looks like you’ve got a mix of things going on—but definitely some promise of happiness on the horizon!
My Tarot Reader AI Was Predictable and Hollow
As soon as the Two of Cups came out, I rolled my eyes. It’s the most obvious love card you could possibly pick. Straight away, I knew this wasn’t a genuine reading. The AI tarot reader wasn’t pulling cards at random, it was just selecting ones it thought were relevant based on the topic I asked about. The illusion of randomness was completely shattered.
Every card that followed only confirmed it. It felt like it was pulling directly from a pre-sorted deck of “relationship” cards, like it was more interested in ticking boxes than actually reading anything. There was no surprise, no challenge, and absolutely no sense of spontaneity or intuition. It felt staged. Formulaic. A parody of what a real reading should be.
It Didn’t Flow, and It Didn’t Say Anything Real
The order of the cards made no sense. It jumped from harmony to heartbreak to excitement to solitude to happily ever after, with no effort to weave a narrative or explore contradiction. It didn’t acknowledge that these cards were sitting next to each other, or what that might mean. There was no thread, no through-line, no sense that it was seeing the cards as a whole.
Each card was explained in isolation. No layering, no reflection, no linking back to what had already come up. It read like five separate flashcards, not one cohesive message. It was just a string of shallow definitions loosely connected by the theme of love. And even then, they didn’t land. My ChatGPT tarot reading wasn’t just thin. It was incoherent.
If I’d Given This Reading…
Those five cards almost definitely wouldn’t show up together in a real reading. Not unless there was something really specific going on. And even if they did, I’d be weaving them into a story, not just describing them one by one. The way the cards interact with each other is just as important as the cards themselves.
I would have gone way deeper. I would’ve paid attention to the contradictions. I would’ve asked why the Two of Cups and the Three of Swords were sitting next to each other. Who that connection was with, what the wound was, whether there was a pattern playing out. I would’ve asked whether the Ten of Cups was a vision to move towards or a fantasy you’re using to avoid the truth.
There’s a rhythm to a reading. A flow. You build on what’s come before. You let the cards talk to each other. You hold tension, lean into discomfort, offer clarity. None of that was present. It wasn’t even trying. I didn’t feel seen. I didn’t even feel like a person. I felt like a prompt that got processed and spat back out.
My AI tarot reading wasn’t really a reading. It was a spreadsheet with illustrations.
What Human Tarot Readers Do That Tarot AI Can’t
We Notice What You Don’t Say
The way you sit. The breath you hold. The shake in your voice. These things speak volumes before you even say a word. We notice the nervous smiles, the swallowed sighs, the small flickers of doubt. You might not realise you’re showing us something, but we’re already picking it up.
That kind of attunement can’t be programmed. A tarot AI doesn’t pause when you flinch. ChatGPT doesn’t register the silence after something hits a nerve. It doesn’t lean in. It can’t tell when something lands or when you’re quietly crumbling. That sensitivity, that presence, is part of what makes a human reading feel alive.
We Read You, Not Just the Cards
Tarot isn’t about memorising meanings. It’s not just listing out keywords and hoping something sticks. It’s about holding a mirror up and noticing what’s being reflected. The way someone reacts. The tension that shows up when certain cards land. All of that feeds the reading.
I’m not here to recite definitions. I’m here to ask the right questions. To respond to what’s in the room. To sit with the unknown and let it speak. That takes intuition, presence, and a different kind of attention. AI tarot readings cannot replicate that.
We’re Not Afraid to Call You In
Sometimes you don’t need comfort. You need clarity. You need someone to look you in the eye and ask, “Are you sure that’s not self-sabotage?” Not to shame you, but to help you see what you’ve been avoiding. That kind of honesty can be hard to hear, but it’s what leads to growth.
A good tarot reading isn’t about telling you what you want to hear. It’s about holding up a mirror to the things you might be skimming past. It’s about nudging you to take responsibility, shift perspective, or recognise a pattern you’ve been stuck in. That doesn’t come from a script. It comes from presence.
AI will always default to safe, general language. It avoids discomfort. It doesn’t know when you’re in denial or when you need a push. I will sit with you in your truth, even when it’s messy. That’s the real difference between a human and an AI tarot reader.
We Sit in the Mess With You
AI wants everything to be simple. Tidy. Wrapped up in a neat little sentence with a clear conclusion. But that’s not how healing works, and that’s not what a real reading is for. Life isn’t linear, and transformation doesn’t come with a script.
When you sit with me, I’m not looking to gloss over the uncomfortable bits. I’ll sit with you in the heartbreak, in the fog, in that confusing, liminal space where things don’t make sense yet. I won’t pretend to fix it or explain it away. I’ll meet you there and stay with you.
I’m not going to offer a clean ending when what you need is to process the chaos. I won’t try to fast forward you to a lesson or pretend everything happens for a reason. I’ll help you walk through it as gently or as honestly as you need. That kind of presence doesn’t come from a tarot AI prompt. It comes from being human.
The Ritual Still Matters
Shuffling the cards. Sitting in silence. Switching on the diffuser. Taking a breath. These small actions create a shift. They move us from distraction into presence. They invite you into something deeper than just a conversation. Even when it’s casual, it’s still intentional.
That moment before the cards are pulled? You can feel it. There’s weight in it. It’s where the energy settles and the room changes. It’s not just about ritual for ritual’s sake. It’s about connecting with something beyond logic. That’s presence. That’s where the magic starts.
Can an AI Tarot Reading Do Me Out of a Job?
Not Bloody Likely
AI tarot might be useful for a laugh, a curiosity, a scroll through something mildly interesting. It’s a novelty, and sometimes novelty can stir something. But it isn’t a guide. It doesn’t anchor you. It doesn’t help you work through anything. It tells you what it thinks you want to hear, not what you need to understand.
Real guidance only happens in connection. In presence. In the space between two humans where truth can land, even when it stings. AI can’t hold that space. It can’t offer that kind of safety or insight. It might sound convincing, but sounding right and being right are not the same thing. Real transformation needs a real reader.
People Want to Be Seen, Not Just Summarised
Most people don’t come to tarot because they want a little pick-me-up or something quirky to screenshot and share. They come when something’s stuck. When they feel lost, unsure, or like something important is shifting and they can’t make sense of it. They come because they’re carrying something heavy and they don’t want to carry it alone.
They want to be seen. Not just skimmed. They want someone to ask the questions they’ve been avoiding. They want to be reflected back with care and honesty. AI can’t offer that. It can guess and generalise, but it doesn’t hold space. It doesn’t witness. It doesn’t recognise your pain or your potential. A human reader does.
Let It Be a Mirror, Not a Replacement
If you want to try an AI tarot card reader and see what comes up, go for it. Sometimes even a basic interaction can spark a question or get you thinking in a new way. Curiosity is valid, and there’s no harm in exploring what technology can offer when it comes to self-reflection.
But that’s not the same as sitting with someone who can feel the weight of what you’re carrying. Someone who can ask the questions you didn’t even realise were there. A real tarot reading goes deeper. It doesn’t just skim the surface. It gets into the raw, the real, the part of you that’s ready for change.
If that’s what you’re craving, I’m here for it. Whether you’re facing something specific or just feel like something’s shifting, I’ll help you make sense of it. I’ll bring the cards, the insight, and the space to unpack what’s really going on.
Want a Real Reading?
If you’re done with surface-level advice and want something real, something that sees you and helps you make sense of your life, book a reading with me. You can come see me in person in Manchester or book online for a Zoom session wherever you are in the world.
I’ll hold space. I’ll challenge you. And I won’t give you cookie-cutter advice pulled from a database. Just real talk, real insight, and real support.
You can book a reading online from anywhere in the world, or book a tarot reading in person if you’re in or around Manchester.
