AI chatbots can potentially be a great help in interpreting I-Ching oracle results

[Paweł]

Recently I’ve been experimenting with using an AI chatbot as a tool to help interpret answers from the I-Ching oracle, and I have to admit that it works surprisingly well.

The method is very simple. In ChatGPT I created a separate project dedicated only to this purpose and added a short instruction explaining how I record the results of the cast. Thanks to this, I can simply paste the oracle’s answer as a sequence of numbers and the chatbot immediately understands how to read it.

Below is the exact instruction text I use in the project:


Instruction for the chatbot:

Help me interpret the answers of the I-Ching oracle to the questions I ask it. In each thread I will start the conversation by writing the question I asked the oracle (sometimes I may omit it), and then I will write the oracle’s answer in the form of numbers, for example:

12, 1, 3, 13

The first number represents the hexagram that was received.

The last number represents the hexagram after transformation.

The numbers in between represent the changing lines.

In the above example: hexagram 12 with changing lines 1 and 3 transforms into hexagram 13.

Your task is to help interpret the meaning of the oracle’s answer: take into account the meaning of the main hexagram, the changing lines, and the resulting hexagram. Try to derive from this a coherent insight or piece of guidance.

A sample conversation might look something like this:

Me (prompt):
I asked: “What attitude would be best for me right now?”
Oracle answer: 32, 1, 5, 43

[sometimes my prompt is just: "32, 1, 5, 43" without any content of the question - saves time! ]

ChatGPT (interpretation):
Hexagram 32 – Duration – speaks about the need for stability and consistency. It is not about sudden actions, but about persistently following a direction and maintaining the right attitude over time.

Line 1 suggests that trying to establish permanence too quickly may be premature. Patience and a natural unfolding of events are needed instead of forcing things.

Line 5, however, is very favorable: it indicates endurance grounded in proper character and inner integrity. This is not stubbornness for its own sake, but faithfulness to what is truly right.

After the transformation we get Hexagram 43 – Breakthrough. It suggests a moment when something is clearly spoken or decisively resolved.

Taken together, the message may be: maintain a calm and consistent attitude, do not try to force things too quickly, but stay aligned with what you know is right. If you keep that inner stability, a natural moment for decisive action or a breakthrough will eventually appear.

(Chatbot's answers are usually longer and more elaborate but I didn't want to make this post too long.)

I suspect that a similar method could work with other AI chatbots as well, not only with ChatGPT.

I’d love to hear your feedback about using AI chatbots to interpret oracle answers. Have you tried it? If so, did you find it useful? Do you think it’s generally worth doing? In other words, do you think using AI this way can be STO?

 

[Maat]

I would suggest that you can use it, but only after having pondering yourself the answer in order to not skip the step of contemplation, inner reflection which is a useful exercise IMO.