During last week’s Digital and AI Coaching Conference (which was excellent – kudos Sam Isaacson and team), I noted an interesting theme running through – it wasn’t all about whether chatbots will or won’t replace human coaches, there was also a strong thread about coaches needing to understand AI to better support leaders.
Colin Cosgrove in particular put this really well – coaches increasingly need skills to support leaders through the changing world of work in the age of AI – they need to be not just AI-literate but also ethically sensitive – willing to do the ‘inner work’ grappling with our responsibilities around AI, and how it sits with our individual values. Leaders need support navigating AI anxiety and staying resilient through some pretty rapid shifts in work and education.
In some ways, this reminded me of how ‘climate conscious’ coaching is framed, in the way it asks us to navigate an overarching, existential issue, the systems thinking it demands, and working with anxiety about the future of work and the world.
Maybe we’re headed towards “AI-conscious coaching” as part of the coach’s toolkit? What do you think?
NB: This does not diminish the role of climate-conscious coaching – if anything, it’s complementary, and arguably part of the same ethical reflection (especially given AI’s problematic resource demands)