Curious about AI coaching and what apps are available? Let’s take a look at the state of AI coaching apps.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries worldwide, including coaching. This includes life coaching, business coaching and even extends to sport and fitness coaching. Two of the benefits of AI to coaching include the potential to use data analysis and trends to inform insights as well as the potential to hugely increase the accessibility of coaching services.
Here’s where app technology comes in; placing AI coaching right at our fingertips, enabling us to seek and find guidance anytime, anywhere.
What we’re talking about is an AI model that has been developed to behave like a coach and is made available via a web or mobile application. But what does that really mean?
There are several main branches of AI technology and a coaching app is in the branch we know as natural language processing (or NLP for short). This is the exact same branch of AI that large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Bard belong to. In fact, almost all AI coaching apps will use one of the LLMs as their underlying technology.
This is because the primary use of AI in the coaching space is language. NLP is the arm of the technology that provides the ability for a computer software to understand and mimic human language, i.e. provide a back and forth conversation like you’d have with a real person.
So an AI coaching app is essentially a LLM that has been instructed, or “prompted”, in such a way that it coaches users like a real coach. This technology has then been wrapped into an app for ease of use.
There are two primary reasons someone seeking coaching would choose to use an AI coaching app:
Affordability. Coaches are in high demand. Effective business coaches and life coaches, especially, can be expensive. For the time-being, most AI coaching apps are very low cost; either free or for a low monthly fee. Many apps can make revenue through advertising and other avenues.
Accessibility. Even if you can afford a coach, you might only be able to speak with them once per month. What about questions you might have in between sessions? What if you have wacky idea in the middle of the night you want to run by them? Having a coaching app means there’s never a time you can’t ask for a second opinion and receive it in a matter of seconds.
There are, of course, many reasons why a coach might want to clone themselves (their personality, content and coaching methodology) and make that available within an AI coaching app.
The explosion of ChatGPT in November 2022 resulted in AI apps and services popping up in every industry for almost every purpose imaginable. Coaching is no exception, with hundreds of tools becoming available from simple health reminder apps to highly complex AI-powered chatbots.
Unfortunately, many of these AI coaching tools were developed quickly in order to catch the new AI wave. Many coaching apps consist of very thin layer of technology overlayed on a large language model, with very little new or valuable pathways, data processing or thought for the actual user experience.
This resulted in wave of gimmicky coaching apps that provided little or value beyond some initial novelty value. As you can imagine, many of these apps failed to stand the test of time. They were unable to retain users and generate sufficient revenue to stay afloat. So what kind of coaching apps remain?
It’s now possible to have specialist coaches in virtually every niche. An AI business coach is a prime example, but there are AI coaching apps in the life coaching space, health and fitness, relationships and more. Simply Google the kind of AI coaching app you’re looking for.
Coachvox AI enables individuals to create an AI coach based on themselves. This means your experience with the AI coach is based on a real person (a credible coach, consultant, author or thought leader, for example) and their content and style.
If you’re seeking a taste of what coaching via an AI app feels like, you can actually prompt ChatGPT to be your business coach.
There’s an array of AI coaching apps to check out. Do your homework and try a few out before making a commitment of your precious time and effort. Before you sign up with any, figure out exactly what you’re looking for, based on what’s missing from your current strengths or personality.
If you are looking for answers outside of what you already know, look for an AI coach with a mentoring slant. If you simply need self-awareness and reflection, seek an AI coach that’s been trained to hold space and ask questions.
Thinking carefully before you commit, and experimenting what what’s out there, should mean you get the absolute most from your AI coaching experience.
