From Tarot Cards to Generative AI: Algorithmic Divination and the Construction of Mediated Realities

Abstract

This paper examines the conceptual continuity between tarot card interpretation and generative artificial intelligence by framing both as systems of mediated meaning production. Rather than treating tarot as a marginal esoteric practice and generative AI as a purely technical instrument, the study argues that both operate through structured symbolic arrangements, interpretive openness, and the active participation of users in the production of significance. Tarot cards have long functioned as a medium through which uncertainty, desire, and projection are organized into meaningful narratives. Generative AI, although grounded in computational architectures and data-driven prediction, similarly produces outputs that invite interpretation, negotiation, and personal attribution. In this sense, the paper proposes the concept of algorithmic divination as a theoretical lens for understanding how contemporary media systems shape the experience of reality through symbolic mediation. The analysis develops a comparative framework across four dimensions: symbolic structure, interpretive agency, authority formation, and mediated realism. It further argues that generative AI extends earlier practices of symbolic consultation into digital environments where communication is increasingly interactive, personalized, and platform-dependent. By linking tarot with generative AI, the paper contributes to digital media studies, communication theory, and discussions of mediated realities, showing how new technological systems do not eliminate older structures of meaning-making but reconfigure them within computational environments.