New research finds that people are turning to AI for tarot and astrology readings.

We have an innate need to relate to the transcendent. Many are apparently meeting that need through AI.

When we use AI to search for meaning, we lose touch with our sense of belonging to the natural world.

Yesterday, the Harvard Business Review published an article about recent research on the top use cases of generative artificial intelligence in 2026. The number one way that people are using large language models this year and last year is for therapy and companionship. The implications of this are startling and disturbing. Many of us are finding it easier to turn to AI to meet our emotional needs.

Given that the quality of our attachment to one another is one of the significant predictors of human flourishing, it is hard to overstate the potential devastating consequences of turning to an LLM rather than to another human being. As monumental as this trend is, it isn’t new, and there are others who are speaking to it with clarity and rigor, most notably the psychologist Zak Stein.

Using AI for Astrology

But there is a new use case in 2026 that I find equally disturbing, if also darkly humorous. People are using AI to generate astrological and tarot readings. Ostensibly, we consult AI because it is supposed to be objective. Many of us unconsciously ascribe a........

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