Published in Kingstown College Coaching Magazine 2020/2021
without most of us being aware, AI is increasingly powering processes and devices and has entered our lives
The pandemic has sped up the adoption of new technologies and it’s predicted that by 2025 half of all work tasks will be handled by machines. Christa Ilieva dives into the recent trends in the area of AI and shares with us some insights linking AI to the coaching profession.
The first time the term artificial intelligence (AI) is considered to have been used was in 1956 during a conference at the University Dartmouth College, US. It is generally acknowledged that Thomas Leonard, a financial planner from the US, developed coaching as a profession in the 1980s. As the introduction of AI started in practice later, both coaching and new technologies – which seemingly have little in common – started their expansion in the last few decades.
The relation between coaching and AI cannot be separated from the development of AI in general and from its impact on almost all areas of society. As AI shapes society, work processes and human relations, so it will impact coaching, but coaching also will have an influence on AI in its field.
At present, and without most of us being aware, AI is increasingly powering processes and devices and has entered our lives. A phenomenon known as AI effect occurs when with the advance of machine capabilities tasks which were considered to require AI, are no longer considered as AI driven; the Tesler’s Theorem says “AI is whatever hasn’t been done yet.”
AI and Coaching Mutual
The digital world is a mirror of the physical world, and as people start to spend more time in it, our questioning is often how to follow the sweeping changes new technologies bring. However, we still have little information on how people who spend increasingly the majority of their time in a digital reality will interact with the physical world when they come back to it, as human brain and psychology will have already undergone changes to adapt to the virtual world.
“In the near future, its (AI’s) impact is likely to only continue to grow. AI has the potential to vastly change the way that humans interact, not only with the digital world, but also with each other.” (www.internetsociety.org)
AI, “Digital” Reality and Coaching
Mutual adaptation between humans and AI is already an ongoing process in communication, interaction and interfaces. The relationship between man and machines will change and from a coaching point of view will open a huge range of new opportunities for collaboration once communication between humans and machines becomes more natural.
Though coaching is not linked to neuroscience, it is focused on the behaviour of human beings, which is guided by the brain. For the longer term it is worth to note the current research conducted by Neuralink (a neuro-technology company founded by Elon Musk), which is developing implantable brain-machine interfaces. This is to be mentioned not because of an already achieved substantial progress, but due to the chosen approach to connect electrodes in the human brain to AI, which registers the electric impulses and tries to interpret them. If successful, this could possibly lead in 10 years to an interaction between brain and AI on a completely new level. The idea of the founder of Neuralink is that this is a way to find a solution to computers and AI’s doubling performance capacity every two years, which the human brain has difficulties to follow.
coaching can help people remain grounded and maintain human connections in a future where people will spend increasingly time in a digital world devised by AI
Coaches and the AI Momentum
Coaches can play a double hatted role – on one side help with the transition and necessary adaptation to the future – and on the other – safeguard the necessary balance.
We know that biology plays an important role in cognitive processes and behaviour – our mood, senses, emotions, food, physical activity, hormones, the weather and so many other factors influence them. If we compare a human being to a tree, the crown is the head, and the body is the trunk and the roots. Coaching can help people remain grounded and maintain human connections in a future where people will spend increasingly time in a digital world devised by AI. From a coaching point of view it might be useful to have small reference coaching groups on voluntary basis which are less immersed in the digital world.
Until now emotions remained a human privilege, and that of human coaches. AI has already some capability of capturing emotions via facial recognition, body temperature, etc. and there come out robots that can show emotions as “emotional robot companions” (www.buddytherobot.com). Human coaches can offer the human contact, handshaking, and all other subtle, but important human interactions. It is difficult to imagine that an AI could transmit the energy that is exchanged during a person to person contact and on which depends to a considerable extent the success of a coaching session. There might gradually emerge nuances between the digital personality and the physical one and coaching can help also by bridging the particularities between them.
Another area where people excel is creativity which is the capacity to link different ideas, concepts in new ways, whereas something new and valuable is formed. Human creativity needs space and time, whilst AI “creativity” needs most of all data, self-programming, and powerful servers. There could be a complementarity as human and AI creativity are different being driven by different processes. Music created by AI on the basis of algorithms, instead of sounds is at least at present very different as end result and emotional impact. Coaching can bring human centred interaction, a counterbalance to the impact on personality by digital over immersion.
The question how coaches will choose to collaborate with AI and introduce new coaching applications and tools in their work, is only part of the equation. The other not less important part is that in parallel coaches will have to adapt constantly to the profound internal changes in companies and society in general, and to the new world of clients which might use themselves AI assistants, opening a new layer of collaboration not only between the humans, but also between two AI entities. If we extrapolate further, the question arises of when the moment will come when AI will start requiring and benefiting from coaching.
Practical applications of AI in coaching
There is a certain trend where younger generations do not look at AI and new technologies as something completely separate, but to some extent as “friends” with which they have grown up. There is already an ongoing process of integration of AI integrated in coaching tools. AI can help use coaching models as GROW, can demonstrate certain empathy, give appropriate responses and even give the impression of talking to a human. In the future AI can become better based on human emotions.
The continuing integration of AI in all systems, increasingly merging them in smart phones, gives the possibility not only to take care of agendas, but will to fulfil the role of pocket coaches. People will be able to dialogue with them to express concerns and ask questions. It is useful to know – though outside the field of coaching, that according to studies AI based analysis of language can predict pre-clinical symptoms of psychosis with 93% accuracy.
In practice, what has already changed or will change in the short-term? Contacts between coaches and clients increasingly take place via video calls and video conferences where AI is integrated. Transcripts of coaching sessions are already successfully done by free applications, supported by AI like Otter (otter.ai). The interconnection of AIs will give access to data on many different situations with the capacity to interlink them and make suggestions to the coach for questions. AI can complement the work of the human coach, improve coaching by having data on numerous sessions, propose alternative approaches, do the accountancy part of coaching sessions, draw the attention when the coaching conversation goes in circles, follow the evolution in time of coaching sessions. AI-based chatbots will progressively be able to recognize patterns and will improve interaction skills.
In the field of team coaching and team building, for example Riff analytics uses voice data collected during video calls to show how people interact in order to give feedback. It measures how engaged people are or whether anyone is dominating the conversation by analyzing data on facial gestures, speech, chats and is working on integrating in the future data on eye contact and eye movement.
The next steps will be representation of coaches and clients via holograms with full scale body representations. In this case coach and client that are in different cities will appear to sit right next to one another in a real room, chat and even make notes on a real whiteboard. Combining AI with the physics of optics, Stanford researchers work on a system that trains itself to create algorithms to reproduce real-world scenes in all their three-dimensional, ever-changing complexity. In this way video conferences will be replaced with 3D representations, with holograms creating augmented realities.
These AI technological advances and integration will give more time for the human element during coaching sessions, using empathy and intuition and coaches will dispose with a 24/7 increasingly intelligent virtual assistant. As more coaches get to know digital coaching, it can be expected that trust in new technologies will increase. An important area which needs constant attention is the protection of this private and sensitive information.
As per the latest World Economic Forum (WEF) report currently around a third of all work tasks were handled by machines, with humans doing the rest. By 2025 the balance would shift and half of all work tasks are set to be handled by machines. WEF noted that the Covid-19 pandemic had sped up the adoption of new technologies.
Roles that relied on human skills such as advising, decision-making, reasoning, communicating and interacting would rise in demand. There would also be a “surge” in demand for workers to fill green economy jobs, and new roles in areas like engineering and cloud computing.
an important area which needs constant attention is the protection of this private and sensitive information
A few examples of AI driven coaching apps:
- Rocky is an AI coaching bot for strategic thinking, and self-reflection questions. It helps to implement habits, to identify daily priorities, gives advice and gives the possibility to have accountability at the end of the day.
- Qstream is an app for transforming learning to change behaviour and drive outcomes by engaging learners and analysing performance.
- Leadx logo is that “every manager deserves a coach”. The LEADx Coach Amanda combines behavioural science, artificial intelligence and expert content to improve leadership behaviours, employee engagement and productivity with AI-powered nudges, coaching and micro-learning.
- ProReal offers the opportunity to engage with clients using 3D gaming technology. It is a virtual reality communication tool to accelerate insight and change. It allows the coach and coaches, as well as other persons or objects involved to be represented by avatars, placed in different scenarios, so that distances, interchanging views on situations promote awareness and allow a view from different perspectives. There can be several avatars for one person and it is very suitable to work remotely. This immersive digital environment creates presence, 3D objects and drawings can be created.
- Woebot is self-care expert that can help to think through situations with step-by-step guidance using tools from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- The role of AI in recruitment is already a fact and AI will be integrated increasingly in management and leadership thus influencing the coaching practice for them. Some examples in the field of recruitment: Pymetrics and Hirevue
Christa Ilieva
Christa Ilieva is economist and holds a Master in International economic relations. She has experience in this field in different environments: private and public sectors and NGOs in several EU countries. Christa is graduate of the Kingstown college Advanced Diploma in Personal, Leadership and Executive Coaching and pursues with passion her coaching practice. She has also hosted solo and collective painting exhibitions. Christa has participated in brainstorming conferences and platforms on the impact of New Technologies and Artificial intelligence on society.
