Blogbeitrag Astrology, Apps and AI – an Outline of What Religious Studies Research Could Look Like

Astrology has become a big part of popular culture. Some get tattoos of their star sign, the music streaming platform Spotify presents users their "astrological" makeup based on their favorite artists and even distinguishes between signs. On Instagram, actors share memes, taking up the characteristics associated with the various signs. Popular culture affects people’s understandings of the world and their attachment of meaning to it. Therefore, it is not only a medium of religion but also a vehicle for meaningful elements in life and can even be understood as analogous to religion.

The concept of mediatization describes how media is used to spread a message and the long-lasting structural effects of this. It includes various sorts of media, although most might think of formats accessible through digital devices and the internet first. This ranges from inscriptions to messages over telephone and smartphone (Hjarvard 2013). Media is used to spread religion but, equally, religion shapes media. Thus, religious studies scholar Jeremy Stolow argues that religion and media are inextricably linked and inseparable (Stolow 2005). The same can be said for popular culture and media.

It is noticeable that astrology is mediated variously, through phone services or horoscopes in magazines. This piece will focus on the mediatization of astrology through apps, specifically the app Co-Star. It is, arguably, catered towards younger people and this target group appears to also be predominantly using it. News outlets, especially on platforms producing for an LGBTQ+ audience, mention its popularity and discuss how astrology has even caused a divide within the queer community since it has become a common cultural reference point in the community (Nast 2018). Those not "believing in" astrology report feeling left out.

What sets Co-Star apart from other apps, like CHANI, is its use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the creation of its horoscopes. The app is advertised as being "[p]owered by AI that merges NASA data with the insight of human astrologers" (Co-Star 2021).

The reference to NASA data connects astrological horoscopes to scientific and astronomical measurements, joining attempts of explaining the world which are analogous to religion and the area of science. The wording and design suggest that AI is a neutral instrument reliant on science. Therefore, the conclusion lies close at hand that Co-Star’s users deem it trustworthy and an enhancement of exclusively human and "fallible" provisions of horoscopes.

This observation coincides with the presentation of astrology offering an “unbiased” form of spirituality to its users, as journalist Hengameh Yaghoobifarah implies (Yaghoobifarah 2018). In other online discourses, algorithms are presented as individual entities that one can be "blessed by." Users ascribe them with theistic attributes (Singler 2020). Thus, varying actors understand the application of AI as both increasing the accuracy and reliability of the horoscope, and view the AI itself as something God-like.

Research on AI, however, has shown that it functions more like a mirror of society and its inequalities. It operates based on data potentially reproducing patterns which the AI repeats rather than changing them through a new (re)presentation (O’Neil 2017). This means that AI exacerbates potential inequalities and stereotypes rather than ameliorating them. Given that Co-Staritself does not entirely disclose how it employs its AI (Jones 2019), questions arise about the effects of the mediatization of astrology through Co-Star, which would require more actor-centered research:

How do Co-Star-users perceive its use of AI?

How do the ascriptions to AI, algorithms, and digital devices as sentient, theistic beings influence the accountability asked from them?

And: What are the effects of this on real-life communities and discourses of astrology and AI?