I would love to lay claim to being an early adopter but it’s about time that I admitted that I never have been and never will be. So it’s pretty miraculous that I have a ChatGPT account at all. Even more miraculous that I am using it on a regular basis. So far I have asked it for help in drafting letters, experimented with generating copy for new marketing materials, played around with its lyric writing skills when stuck for a verse in a new song, and picked its ‘brain’ for ideas to add to my own. My conclusion? Like the majority of views I have read, mine is that it is brilliant for anything language-related and can without a doubt save us time. I have used it to help with drafting legal letters, for example, and for templates for life admin things that I wouldn’t otherwise have known how to do. It still needs some polishing to make it truly fit for purpose and that’s fine. As for song writing and poetry – it’s best avoided for the time being. And what a relief that is, for it surely highlights that anything requiring a soul, a sensibility, emotional depth and an associated lexicon is still for us humans (I prefer to see it this way rather than as a reflection of my shortcomings with its use).
So first conclusion – very handy for a number of drafting and administrative tasks. I have not yet mastered any of the AI image generating apps (have any of you got your head round Midjourney???) but in time I might, and it might be a lot of fun.
But what I really wanted to test out was its capacity to replace me. I mean, that’s what many of us want to know, right? Can it do my job? Are machines taking over the world and how much do I need to fear being replaced by a robot? In 2014, Joaquim Phoenix starred in a brilliant film called ‘Her’. In the lonely, sad chapter following his divorce, he falls in love with his operating system, developing an intimate relationship with Samantha (who has the voice of Scarlett Johansson…enough said) with whom he goes on dates, to whom he introduces his friends to and with whom he has ‘sex’. I found the film deeply moving. As someone profoundly curious about issues of human loneliness and connection, I found the premise deeply distressing – and entirely plausible. The idea that we humans could be moving towards a world where we resort to having our emotional needs met by a machine, did not seem outlandish at all to me. But I remember a friend of mine at the time telling me she hadn’t liked it as it was too “far-fetched”.
Ten years later, we are not at that stage quite yet but we are spending a lot of time discussing how AI might replace us humans, especially in the workplace. My instinct was that coaching – being, in my view, a deeply human endeavour – was not at risk. But I was curious. So I started typing:
“Can you coach me on my new beginning?” I asked and waited with bated breath.
In a nano second the reply came back:
“Of course! I’d be happy to coach you through your new beginning. Coaching involves a collaborative process where I can provide guidance, support, and accountability to help you achieve your goals. Here’s how we can proceed”
I gulped as I started reading through the bulleted list of focus areas:
“Define your goals….Assess your current situation…Create an action plan”.
Pretty reasonable, but a little superficial. So I wrote again:
“This is a plan but it’s not coaching” I typed, feeling clever and a little more confident. “Can you actually coach me on how to do each step?”
Again in a split second, it replied:
“Certainly! I can provide coaching-like guidance and support for each step of the process. Let’s do through each step and I’ll provide coaching prompts and questions to help you navigate through your new beginning”
Hmmm. Clever, I thought but perhaps rather over-confident in its ability. So I tried again, getting excited that I could see the possibility of victory.
“So are you actually a coach?” I asked, grinning smugly as it replied:
“No, I am an AI language model. While I can provide coaching-like guidance, I am not a certified coach and do not possess the qualifications or experience of a human coach”.
So its differentiator was just around qualifications and experience? Ok, well that was something but I still wasn’t entirely satisfied. So I went in for the kill:
“What is the difference between a human coach and an AI coach?” I asked, beginning to taste the scent of victory. The hunt was closing in.
“The main difference between a human coach and an AI coach lies in their capabilities, qualities and in the nature of their interaction” it began. But then to my even greater pleasure, proceeded to list five wonderful differences. The first was ‘human connection’. The explanation talked about personal connection and emotional support and the ability of humans to empathise, actively listen and understand nuances, establish trust and tailor their approach. The others involved intuition and non-verbal cues, flexibility and adaptability, and the ability to explore deeper layers of emotions, beliefs and thinking, and to uncover underlying patterns and facilitate meaningful change.
The finale was worth waiting for:
“It’s important to note that while AI coaches may offer certain benefits such as accessibility, availability and the ability to provide general guidance, they are not a substitute for the depth and richness of a human coaching relationship”.
Open the champagne! I am saved by my humanity! Thank the Lord above. Ring out the bells! My own deeply human nature and the deeply human aspect of coaching is precisely why I do what I do and why I love what I do. It also means you have all got to stick with me, rather than trading me in for a robotic model. I am off to close my computer and pour myself another glass!
Oh and by the way, I am also a LOT more fun.