And just like that, AI Coaches are sharing space with us Human Coaches. And, they always will.

If you haven’t tried one from the broad swath of options that vary widely in quality — think back-and-forth with the likes of a customer service chatbot. Except, instead of sharing your request for a refund — you’re sharing a personal or professional challenge with an algorithms that’s trained to respond based on its language training on a narrowly focused dataset (like goal attainment theory of cognitive behavioral therapy).

So, while they’re still mostly primitive and annoying, like one that sends cutesy and overly familiar text reminders about next steps you identified at the end of the last session (“Yo Cliff, how are the action steps coming along?”), we can relax a bit. However, we need to,  as my father was too often fond of quoting from his boy scout days: “Be prepared.”

They’re already outworking us being on and available “24/7” and they never complain about how early or late Clients text them seeking support. And, they improve themselves 24/7. They can coach every language and they’ll become increasingly more personalized to client needs and be customizable by client preferences, and they’ll bring a level of sophistication that’s seemingly beyond human comprehension.

my we all need to bring our best “self-Coach” to Human Coach And AI Coach polarity tension decisions.

Key Takeaways

  • Few if any of these chatbot pass ACC Level of ICF criteria and are not truly “coaches” based on the definitions of coaching.
  • Will always bring with it issues of ethics and other bias.
  • There’s currently a massive degree of variation in the quality of AI Coaches.
  • It will “democratize” Coaching w improved accessibility and cost effectiveness.
  • Will continually reshape the nature of work and culture of workplaces and the coaching profession as it presents change opportunities and challenges at a hyper-pace.
  • The future of Coaching will almost certainly be predominantly a Human/Technology polarity that leverages “Augmented And Automated” — AI complementing human coaches by adding efficiency where it can best be applied, while preserving the best-of benefits of human-centric interaction.
  • Limited ability (currently) to provide the deep social/emotional connection rooted in nuanced human interaction.

AI Coaching Utility

Initial studies together with anecdotal feedback and my own personal exploration – you got to give them some cred – especially as they incorporate tracking, goals, and accountability. For Clients who value a structured environment that’s safe for self-paced reflection and available 24/7. And quite affordable. What’s there to complain about?

Research on the Impact of AI Coaches

An AI Coach can be effective in goal attainment and self-resilience. Several studies also show that AI can match human coaches to deliver structured interventions, on particular domains (such as productivity) coaching.

Working alliance, a key factor in coaching relationships, has mixed results in AI coaching. While some AI systems establish a moderate working alliance with clients, others struggle to foster the deep rapport necessary for trust-based coaching relationships.

Ethics

Unfortunately, and no surprise — there’s not a lot of research on ethical concerns in AI coaching. What is well established are general risks that underpin all use of AI that i: data privacy, security, bias, and little meaningful regulatory oversight. Every AI coaching platform has to navigate these ethical challenges and they will do so more-or-less, well. And their track record is subject to change by the day/hours. So – it’s difficult and nearly impossible to ensure they are unbiased and trustworthy. This puts issues such as transparency in any use of AI and decisions that are based on use of AI on the Coach to ensure informed consent about risks and ethical use of personal data.

Interdependent Pairs (aka Polarity, Paradox) for Coaches and Coaching Field

General AI literacy must leverage several key polarities in service of the Greater Purpose Statement (GPS):

GPS=Generative Change That’s Sustainable for the Coach
Adapt to AI Consciously And Integrate AI Consciously

GPS=Best of Human-Tech Partnership for the Client
Augmentation And Automation

A few high-leverage Action Steps for Coaches:

  • Keep abreast of evolving AI trends and AI Coaching research to understand strengths and limitations of AI.
  • If an AI Coach is considered, do so in in partnership with full disclosure and transparency.
  • When used, treat the AI Coach as a third party in the core partnership, co-evolving evaluating the benefit in the relationship.

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