Is AI coaching really coaching?
Is AI coaching really coaching? I’m not sure it matters. Hiding behind semantics won’t shelter our profession from the coming tidal wave.
Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of Applications, recently shared her vision for the future of AI; including transforming personalized coaching from a "privilege reserved for the few" into an everyday service for everyone. Her dream, inspired by her own transformative relationship with her human coach Katia, poses fascinating questions we're actively exploring at the @Hudson Institute of Coaching. How are we—coaches, leaders, learning professionals, growth-minded individuals—to think of it?
While Prof. Nicky Terblanche (PhD) and other researchers explore the rapidly expanding frontier of AI coaching’s developmental potential, Tatiana Bachkirova and Robert Kemp have brilliantly articulated the unique value of human coaching in transforming individuals and organizations alike.
My latest for Forbes examines the tension between democratization and depth in the age of AI coaching.
Academic research offers a number of valuable insights:
☑️ AI can match human coaches in terms of structured goal-tracking and maintaining momentum.
🔥 The deepest transformation emerges through "heat experiences"—moments of productive discomfort that require genuine human witness and relational risk that an AI cannot replicate.
👥 Professional coaching comprises six essential elements that current AI cannot fully embody: joint inquiry, meaning-for-action, values navigation, contextual understanding, relational attunement, and fostering client autonomy.
I believe the future isn't about choosing sides. Instead, it's about thoughtful integration that preserves what makes human-to-human coaching transformative while exploring technology’s potential to expand access to meaningful development.
The path forward requires care to distinguish what technology can replicate from what only emerges when one human commits to another's growth.
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How are you thinking about AI's role in human development? Can we preserve the irreducible power of human presence while making meaningful growth more accessible? | 105 comments on LinkedIn