Why AI Can’t Coach You
If you want very basic coaching, AI tools can actually be quite helpful. For example, I asked a popular AI tool: “Here is my plan for a job search. What am I missing? Ask me 3 questions I can answer that would help create a better plan based on my preferences and then give me feedback on the plan.” The tool “coached” me, and together we came up with a lot of great ideas from the internet on how to approach a job search.
But then I asked an AI tool to help me explore my future career trajectory and make decisions congruent with my values and purpose. Each response was less helpful than the one before, so I followed up with more carefully worded questions. Finally, this is what I got: “If you feel you’ve hit a wall, a deeper introspective look, exploring external help (like coaching or therapy) might help.” (Great advice!)
Research tells us that the most important part of coaching is the coaching relationship, or as we like to call it in business research, the “working alliance.” This is that bond of trust and empathy, based in non-judgment and curiosity, that leads to growth.
Carl Rogers, almost 70 years ago, introduced 6 “necessary and sufficient” conditions for growth to take place.* Good coaching should fulfill all of these conditions by either the coach or client or both:
A meaningful encounter with another person (coach and client)
Discomfort with the current situation and a desire for help (client)
A self-aware coach who is authentic and true to himself (coach)
Warmth, acceptance and respect for the client (coach)
Empathy for the client’s situation (coach)
Successful communication of the coach’s regard for the client (coach and client)
None of these conditions are available from an encounter with AI.
*Please pardon my vastly simplified and paraphrased summary of Roger’s work!
Rogers, C. (1957). The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change.” Journal of Counseling Psychology, 21, pp. 95-103.
