| What is our scarcest resource in the world today? Depending on your age, you might answer with:
Money – Silent Generation and Baby Boomers What do you think? I postulate that all the above are NOT the scarcest resources. The scarcest resource moving forward is authenticity. As we move into the metaverse, and embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI), reality will become scarcer and scarcer. Therefore, as human ‘beings’, being authentic will be our competitive advantage. Let’s unpack this… Currently we have Narrow Artificial Intelligence (NAI). This is AI that can do one task really well (large language models such as ChatGPT, chatbots that can offer basic help on websites, chess/go etc…) This is generative AI because it learns from itself. Be aware, as it is a function of what it is trained with, be it the whole of the internet (including conspiracy theories) or a contained (hopefully truthful) dataset. AI that can do a multitude of tasks, thinking and behaviours (like we humans) is called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Depending on who you believe/follow/listen to, we are only a few years away from AGI, or we may be decades away. Who knows? AI that is smarter than we humans is called Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI). This is what we see in sci-fi or dystopian futures be it movies (ie: SHE, ExMachina) or books (ie: Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom where he mentions the infamous paperclip thought experiment). Imagine being coached by artificial intelligence. When it comes to ‘transactional’ coaching NAI can do an OK job, but misses context and nuance (see example below in italics). What are you going to do? How will you do it? By when? NAI can coach us on step by step, linear tasks or behaviours that we are trying to achieve. This is coaching that needs accountability around building a habit – think sales calls, exercise, positive affirmations, etc… Narrow AI can one task very well 🤖 Narrow AI is not able to offer transformational coaching as it misses context and nuance. It misses empathy and embodiment. Transformational coaching is both an Art and a Science. Transformational coaching includes our bodies as well as our heads. Transformational coaching supports us to expand ourselves to release the grip on the thinking mind to reconnect with our feeling and sensing self. Transformation coaching focuses on WHO our clients are being, vs simply WHAT they are doing. Coaching presence holds a power that allows us to access something beyond the ordinary. When we can reliably drop into presence, we invite a deep wisdom into our coaching sessions that NAI is unable to access. NAI relies on large data sets of information that has already occurred. AI can’t imagine, can’t deal with cognitive dissonance, irrational thinking/behaviours, or use intuition. We have unique and original thoughts. We have novel ideas. We expect the unexpected. We are adaptable to the new and curious. NAI can’t do this. Perhaps one day when we have AGI or ASI it will. For now, and the foreseeable future, I believe we are safe in our authentic transformational coaching roles. As we move from NAI to AGI, it is authenticity that will become scarce. How will we know we are interacting with a human or an AI? (referred to at the Turing Test.) As we transition (or add) to the metaverse, it will be hard to distinguish. Why do clients come for coaching? More importantly, why do clients return again and again for continued coaching? Most clients come to coaching to clarify what they want and to design how they will achieve it. Yet, most clients STAY in a coaching relationship as they discover WHO they are. WHO we are becomes our defining paradigm. Transformational coaching is coaching WHO our clients are being and it is a joy for both the client and the coach to explore this. NAI can do, and will do, many menial and repetitive tasks, but it will never replace transformational coaching with its heart-to-heart relationships, oxytocin, genuine empathy and love. AI and coaching is a moving feast and it’s exciting. As a physics and mathematics graduate, I have an ongoing interest in all forms of artificial intelligence. I have always been an optimist about where science is taking us, and I still am. It’s exciting to live during these times as the metaverse and AI are being developed. I’m grateful to offer and practice transformational coaching. I believe authentic transformational coaching is safe for the future…however long that is! In the past workplaces were about muscles. IQ + EQ = Whole💕hearted relating © As we transition to more virtual online worlds here are some questions to ponder: AI Coaching Resources to explore: • RaeNotes – https://www.raenotes.com/coaches.html AI coaching example Initially I was excited and intrigued. I followed the instructions, joined the chat group with other new dieters, and waited for my first coaching conversation. Soon I was disappointed to realise that my personal coach was a bot. I would ask a question and it would reply by stating my question and referring me to an online library of resources that the wording of my question in the suggested resources for me to read. The resources were good. Scientific articles, nutritional information, eating plans to download and fill in, it was fun for the first couple of weeks. This was summer 2019/20 in Australia, just before Covid hit, and in January 2020 terrible and terrifying bushfires took hold in southeast Australia and our sky was blanked with smoke. I was unable to go outside and exercise. I asked my ‘coach’ for support as I was feeling flat. I’d lost motivation and energy. The fires were burning huge amounts of land. Millions of animals were being killed. Many communities had to be evacuated… I felt depressed. As soon as I mentioned the word depressed, the bot referred me to resources for depression as it thought I had a medical condition, it pathologized my state. Yet, all I had done was have a healthy response to a tragedy unfolding in my home country. About the Author Belinda MacInnes BSc MCC is an Australian based, internationally sought after professional coach. Belinda has over 8,500 one-on-one coaching hours, and with clients in 30 countries her coaching practice is truly international. She partners deeply with leaders, emerging leaders, managers, and professionals so they no longer feel alone. © Belinda MacInnes August 2023
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