Astrology and a bunch of liars

 

For over a month, my ears have been hearing two ads relentlessly on YouTube. Election manifesto campaigns of the parties belonging to Tamil Nadu and the AstroTalk (AI-assisted astro consulting services) app. And I intend to discuss the second one today.

The Tamil version of the video features Kiki Vijay, a famous media personality and daughter-in-law of ace director Bhagyaraj, eating at a restaurant. The conversation is between her and an unknown person whose face was not featured.

Anonymous: “Madam, enakku indha astrology mela ellam oru nambikkai illai.”

(I don’t trust things like astrology.)

Kiki: “Appidiya??” (She wipes her hands with a towel.) “Oru bet vechikalama?”

She opens her phone and clicks on the astro app. The anonymous person chats with an astrologer, which I suspect is an AI, and appears to be shocked because the “astrologer” was able to backcast events which happened in the anonymous person’s life 6 years ago.

And the ad ends.

NON-SENSE was what I said to myself. And here’s why I personally think the app is a scam.

The ad claims you need to enter only your DOB. But the app actually asks for your time of birth. Then comes a disclaimer that the predictions will be 80 percent accurate even if TOB is not known.

You don’t have to pay for something that is only 80 percent accurate.

In astrology, TOB is fundamental because that determines your ascendant, your personality, your physique, your inclinations. The ascendant is your first house, which is imperative for every other forecast. Without it, looking into an astrology chart is a waste of time.

Are we actually talking to a trained astrologer?

I doubt it. It could very well be an LLM or some RAG-based system. But at any rate, you don’t know the person sitting on the other side. Expert or novice, no idea. That lack of transparency itself is a problem.

I had to fight the temptation to use the app, not for forecasts, but to check their genuineness. I seriously had the mind to pay for something that is of no use to me, just to test it out.

Is it worthwhile to get an online consultation?

Let me break this to you. Your astrologer next door needs to make a living. But this is an app, an investor-backed venture. They need profits. Revenue minus server upkeep, maintenance, and daily payouts to the astrologers that you talk to.

In essence, they operate under a time constraint.

But reading an astro chart with accuracy will and should take time. Now that they have a daily turnover target and time constraint, accuracy is at stake here.

They will tell you only what you want to hear. Or at least, what keeps you coming back.

SHOULD I CONSULT AN ASTROLOGER IN THE FIRST PLACE?

I know why this question arises. You have probably reached a point in life where you are tired. Tired of trying.

It’s a personal call as to whether one must consult an astrologer or not. But take it from me, astrological predictions are only a probability.

Someone is born around the same time you are born, but your lives could be completely different.

Your kundli is an indicator of your mind, your inclinations, your intelligence. To some extent, your children and spouse can also be predicted to a level of accuracy because they are tied to your karma.

But no astrological prediction can be 100 percent.

In Thirukkural 619, a Tamil epithet says:

தெய்வத்தான் ஆகா தெனினும் முயற்சிதன்
மெய்வருத்தக் கூலி தரும்

If fate doesn’t have it in store for you, your efforts will.

And that, in my opinion, is where the conversation should end.