Without a doubt, human mentors and coaches hold a special place in our hearts. Their wealth of knowledge and experience greatly contribute to our learning journeys. But let’s also admit it, they have their own limitations too, particularly with time. They can’t always be there 24/7 to answer our never-ending questions.
Then voila. We welcome the integration of AI into educational systems.
ChatGPT, for instance, offers the unique advantage of instant availability as a teacher, tutor, or mentor, thus overcoming the limitations imposed by human mentors and coaches.
Sal Khan, the visionary founder, and CEO of Khan Academy, took advantage of ChatGPT’s potential and successfully incorporated this AI into their educational system, creating a powerful and personalized tutoring tool.
However, it’s important to recognize that the effectiveness of ChatGPT as a self-coaching tool relies on the learner’s ability to ask meaningful questions. The quality of responses will largely depend on the clarity and specificity of the inquiries posed. Errors in AI recommendations or feedback can have a significant impact on learning outcomes.
In her article “The Pros And Cons Of Using AI In Learning,” Robin Greene-Harper highlights various challenges associated with the use of AI in learning, such as bias in AI models, lack of personalization, and other potential errors, and concerns.
To address these challenges and improve the effectiveness of AI in learning, it is crucial to prioritize careful consideration and ethical use of AI. This is where coaching from human mentors should come into practice. Human mentors and coaches play a crucial role in providing guidance, support, and mentorship that cannot be replicated by AI. Fostering collaboration between human mentors and AI allows for leveraging the strengths of both to create more effective learning experiences.
At Vignettes LABS we have experience using ChatGPT in coaching opportunities. Click here to read our blog.
We call this self-coaching. With the aid of ChatGPT, learners can reflect, compare, and get feedback on their work using ChatGPT.
These are the insights we learned:
| ChatGPT is a faster-sounding board. It provides real-time, instant feedback. | |
| Self-coaching ideas can come from asking oneself or using ChatGPT to generate alternative scenarios, explore different decisions, and discuss potential consequences. | |
| ChatGPT will only be as good as the capacity of the learner to ask questions that leads to meaningful responses. | |
| Deeper feedback from ChatGPT depends on the follow-through questions that delve into specific aspects. | |
| The learner needs to have an argument or refute ChatGPT. This is a self-built in point of view of being a skeptic; not to trust all answers to be useful or accurate. | |
| Self-coaching is a self-reflection by the learner. ChatGPT serves like a mirror. In many instances, it only answers questions the learners find important and meaningful. | |
| On the other hand, the learners need to be alert that ChatGPT may help them see a part of themselves, from ChatGPTs responses. |
ChatGPT and learner self-coaching highlights people’s inherent strengths of self-critique and self-direction.
Sources:
Langreo, Lauraine (2023); How Schools Can Harness AI for Learning