TY - JOUR
T1 - Virtually Shamans
T2 - An Anthropological Perspective on AI Chatbots
AU - Hau, Mark Friis
AU - Krause-Jensen, Jakob
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). Anthropology of Consciousness published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Anthropological Association.
PY - 2025/9/1
Y1 - 2025/9/1
N2 - This article explores the emerging relationship between humans and AI chatbots through the anthropological lens of shamanic practice, proposing the concept of “virtually shamans” to understand these digital interactions. Drawing on ethnographic traditions of studying magic, spirituality, and technological mediation, we argue that AI chatbot users occupy a liminal position analogous to shamanic intermediaries, navigating between mundane human experience and opaque digital realms of computational knowledge. The analysis examines how prompt engineering resembles ritual practice, requiring specialized techniques to communicate with entities that are simultaneously rational and mysterious. We explore how these interactions challenge conventional boundaries between human and non-human, and tool and entity, creating new forms of postmodern otherworldliness. The paper situates AI chatbots within anthropology's long-standing interest in how occult practices intersect with modernity and technology. Through this shamanic metaphor, we explore the entanglements of human–AI relationships, suggesting that chatbots generate new forms of postmodern otherworldliness. This framework offers a novel perspective on how individuals navigate and create meaning in increasingly digital environments, contributing to broader anthropological discussions on technology, modernity, and cognition, while also addressing the cultural and social implications of widespread AI adoption.
AB - This article explores the emerging relationship between humans and AI chatbots through the anthropological lens of shamanic practice, proposing the concept of “virtually shamans” to understand these digital interactions. Drawing on ethnographic traditions of studying magic, spirituality, and technological mediation, we argue that AI chatbot users occupy a liminal position analogous to shamanic intermediaries, navigating between mundane human experience and opaque digital realms of computational knowledge. The analysis examines how prompt engineering resembles ritual practice, requiring specialized techniques to communicate with entities that are simultaneously rational and mysterious. We explore how these interactions challenge conventional boundaries between human and non-human, and tool and entity, creating new forms of postmodern otherworldliness. The paper situates AI chatbots within anthropology's long-standing interest in how occult practices intersect with modernity and technology. Through this shamanic metaphor, we explore the entanglements of human–AI relationships, suggesting that chatbots generate new forms of postmodern otherworldliness. This framework offers a novel perspective on how individuals navigate and create meaning in increasingly digital environments, contributing to broader anthropological discussions on technology, modernity, and cognition, while also addressing the cultural and social implications of widespread AI adoption.
KW - AI and consciousness
KW - digital anthropology
KW - human–machine interaction
KW - postmodern technology
KW - virtual shamanism
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105016396976
U2 - 10.1111/anoc.70011
DO - 10.1111/anoc.70011
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:105016396976
SN - 1053-4202
VL - 36
JO - Anthropology of Consciousness
JF - Anthropology of Consciousness
IS - 2
M1 - e70011
ER -