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“I’m lost. I have no drive or direction; how do I find my calling? Will I find my calling? And even if I do, who’s to say I’ll get to live the dream?” 

Different renditions of this age-old existential crisis have plagued the best of us at some point in time. Navigating one’s way through this philosophical maze takes years of soul searching, and perhaps some professional guidance. After endless conversations with friends, phone calls with mom, and many contemplative hours with the self, more often than not, an epiphany is nowhere in sight. Enter life coaching sessions.

A life coach is a naturally intuitive professional, and sometimes a certified shoulder to cry on. They are trained to offer guidance and direction towards ambitious goals that sometimes lack a realistic roadmap. In theory, they help clients develop essential life skills like critical thinking, time management, and defining boundaries to reach their highest potential. And just as outsourcing our tedious daily tasks to AI has become the new norm, the coaching industry is experiencing the inevitable entry of AI into their turf. Celebrated apps like Summit.AI and empathetic AI chatbots like Pi are lending an attentive ear to the struggles of digital natives in the age of AI. And truth be told, they are great listeners. 

Pi.ai is an empathetic AI chatbot. Courtesy of Pi.

Pi dealing with a hypothetical existential dilemma that clients often visit lifer coaches with. Courtesy of Pi.

Pi offering steps to simplify the hypothetical dilemma in a pleasant tone that acknowledges the user's feelings. Courtesy of Pi.

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The development of life-like generative AI models or ‘synthetic empathy’ is not revolutionary. Since the dawn of mainstream AI, experts have been intrigued by the concept of infusing the human touch into machine learning. Leading to the creation of ‘aimpathy’ – where AI responds to human emotion, empathetically. Theoretically, aimpathy is expected to vastly improve the quality of certain industries that center around human connection, such as counseling and coaching. 

Why the world is confiding in AI life coaches

We are often told that self-improvement is a solitary process, one that demands the willingness to listen and tailored guidance. Turns out, AI checks both those boxes, most of the time. Zeta Yarwood, a leading Career and Executive Life Coach in the region believes the reason people are flocking to AI to make crucial personal and professional decisions “comes down to accessibility.” The electric pace of life in today’s day and age means that “people don’t want to have to wait a few weeks before they can speak to someone and then spend a month or two with a coach to get results. They want solutions now.” Not to mention, AI is free and accessible at all times. 

But as far as the profession itself is concerned, an AI-powered revolution against human life coaches is still strictly science fiction. Dr. Nicky Terblanche, Head of Leadership Coaching at Stellenbosch University Business School and Founder of Coach Vici, confirms that though “natural sounding chatbots have piqued people’s interest in AI, endorsing AI coaching assistants is yet to be normalized in the space. However, some experts, including Dr. Terblanche, are tinkering with the creation and promotion of AI coaches. Coach Vici, a coaching chatbot developed by Dr. Terblanche is among the emerging AI copilots in the industry. Industry leaders like CoachHub that specialize in life coaching are also dabbling into the realm of AI, with AIMY, “a prototype of the world’s first conversational AI coach.”

As AI penetrates these human-centric professions, “coaching regulation bodies such as International Coaching Federation (ICF) and European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) are working on regulatory frameworks to both guide AI coach developers and protect consumers of this technology”, says Dr. Terblanche. 

If algorithms are becoming empathetic, why do we need humans? 

Contrary to the majority that condemns AI’s infiltration into everything, Yarwood believes that “every industry can benefit from using algorithms as part of a solution. Algorithms are a great resource for creating plans, identifying tools and methodologies, and step-by-step processes that can be used to help people heal and move forward.” 

Pi displays an implicit disclaimer that warns users of AI hallucinations. Courtesy of Pi.

Even if AI models acknowledge their fallibility, they still don’t compare to “human interactions that create trust and connection. This is where the power lies, Yarwood states reassuringly. Humans offer genuine empathy, helping a person to feel seen, heard, and valued.” A quality that algorithms and generative AI are yet to crack. Additionally, Dr. Terblanche confirms that “currently there is no evidence that AI coaches can do developmental coaching as well as human coaches can.” Developmental coaching is a complex process of helping a client understand and change deep-seated patterns of thinking and behaving. 

Yet, in a landmark study that spanned 10 months, “Coach Vici was able to help users reach their goals at a rate similar to clients who had a human coach”, said Dr. Terblanche. The infancy of this radical tool in the coaching industry means that more research needs to be done to understand what AI “might be capable of.” Dr. Terblanche reiterated that AI is not an absolute substitute for human coaches, but a tool that democratizes access to assistance. “In some parts of the world, like South Africa, where I live, there are not enough trained human experts in the field [coaching]. AI can fill this gap because it can provide a range of these services 24/7 at a fraction or no price at all.” Initial evidence from Dr. Terblanche’s research also showed that “some people prefer to talk to an AI coach more so than a human coach.” Stating a sense of psychological safety and being truly “unjudged” using an AI. But for the vast majority of clients, the “fakeness of AI” creates a similar deficiency in people as Zoom fatigue did at the end of the pandemic. “Research already points to how sensitive the brain is to facial and vocal or tonal queues.” The lack of this greatly comprises the efficacy of coaching as practice. 

An empathetic AI chatbot is still an AI model, making its limitations glaringly obvious from the get-go. Though attentive, they lack nuance and genuine sensitivity given the current state of AI. Qualms that simply require a clear breakdown of tasks to attain or set a goal are AI’s forte. But when it comes to matters of the heart or mind, it’s always best to get a second opinion from a thinking, feeling human.  

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