Coach robots indistinguishable from humans, widespread use of virtual reality (VR) headsets enabling more realistic virtual meetings, and the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for coaching programmes: this is some of what’s coming down the line, according to Sam Isaacson from CoachHub.

As part of the digital coaching panel at the annual Coaching at Work conference on 17 November, Isaacson highlighted three areas of development about to impact coaching significantly: Artificial Intelligence (AI), the metaverse (a 3D virtual realm) and Blockchain, a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.

Isaacson said: “AI is already supporting coach matching and assessment, automating processes where data already exists and now we’re seeing coach robots emerging. “Coach bots…effectively automate relatively linear coaching models like GROW…and research has proven that (coach bot coaching) is as effective as humans doing exactly the same thing. In fact, it’s probably going to be more reliable because a robot will stick to the model, it’ll be non-directive.

“They’re very early in their development… but it’s going extremely quickly towards them becoming indistinguishable from a human.”

The metaverse will enable people to meet others remotely in the form of a hologram. “Meta has recently released its Quest Pro headset which has cameras inside which track the user’s facial expressions, replicating them onto an avatar that the other person they’re meeting remotely will see through their headset as if they’re in the same room. They can even shake hands, look each other in the eyes, and so on.”

Isaacson predicted that “cutting edge people will all be using a headset to communicate with people in two years; in five years it’ll be everywhere.” He bases his prediction on Apple’s planned release in 2024 of a device that doesn’t need to tether to a Smartphone to make calls. “When Apple releases something, consumer behaviour changes.”

Also speaking on the conference digital coaching panel, David Tinker from ProReal, who has trained coaches and therapists in how to engage with the metaverse, said: “Part of our role as coaches is to be able to move from cognitive rigidity to cognitive flexibility to enable us to think differently and bring new learning in.”

Coaching during lockdown meant many met their own cognitive rigidity, with some feeling “disarmed and less effective”, while others have developed a new craft and become more creative. One challenging area is online identity.
“For many digital natives, their identity is online. How can we hold a space for our coachees as they swim in this ocean of digital possibilities? They can have an increase in agency and power and it’s wonderful if we can go with that…We need to be able to meet them (in the digital world), and have to hold the space in a different way and be prepared to play.”

Although Blockchain is further off, it’s still something we should think about, said Isaacson. “Coaches already can get paid in cryptocurrency or make an NFT [a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and used to certify authenticity and ownership]”, as Isaacson has. What we might see next, predicts Isaacson, is coaching programmes as NFTs owned by someone who can either use or sell all or part of it, making a profit and potentially giving a cut to the coach.