The Real Risks of Using AI for Career Coaching. What Job Seekers Must Know
Discover why AI-powered career coaching isn’t always your best bet. Learn the real risks, biases, and what human coaches offer that AI can’t.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionised many industries, and career coaching is no exception. Quantifying the exact extent to which people are now using Gen AI for career coaching is difficult. However, in an article for HBR Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic “some surveys suggest that as many as 65% of job seekers are using AI for help at some point in their job application process.”
So not unsurprisingly, this confirms why I am starting to hear more and more “I am going to use AI. “
While AI-powered career coaching tools offer convenience and accessibility, (I get that – I love AI), they also present several significant downsides that job seekers and professionals should be aware of. They then need to factor these considerations into their thinking and decision-making processes.
Most people only seek out a coach when they are in a crisis. Very often they try to fix it themselves and end up in a bigger mess. When they do seek a professional they find that the presenting issue isn’t the real problem – it’s a symptom of something wider and deeper.
So this is why you should approach AI with both curiosity and caution.
Danger of AI and the real risks
Lack of Personalisation
AI algorithms rely on pre-programmed data and patterns to provide advice. This one-size-fits-all approach can overlook your unique circumstances, strengths, and weaknesses. Personalised career guidance often requires a deep understanding of a person’s background, aspirations, and challenges, which AI may struggle to fully get a handle on. You are missing the nuance which comes out in an ongoing dialogue. Coaches can observe pauses and hesitation and follow their intuition to go deeper to unlock a block.
As I navigate my next career evolution, AI has been an aide for my thinking but hasn’t provided the accountability like a coach would on motivating me to act.
Very often the prompts rely on you having a certain level of self-awareness – an understanding of your skills and strengths. AI will be less able to tweak these out of you than a skilled career coach.
- Bias and Discrimination
AI systems are only as good as the data they are trained on. If the training data is biased, the AI will perpetuate those biases. LLM modesl show heavy bias to white, Anglo, young men. This can lead to discriminatory advice that disadvantages certain groups, such as women, minorities, or individuals from lower-income backgrounds. For example, an AI might recommend lower-paying jobs to women or overlook qualified candidates from non-traditional backgrounds.
In a recent post in using AI for Ikigai coaching the author had not included Mieko Kamiya who is considered to be the Mother of Ikigai.
Privacy Concerns
Career coaching often involves sharing sensitive personal information, such as career goals, past experiences, and even personal struggles. AI systems that collect and analyse this data can pose significant privacy risks. Data breaches or misuse of information can have serious consequences, including identity theft and reputational damage.
This is the issue that concerns me the most. Do you really want your career angst to be an LLM data point?
Limited emotional intelligence
Career coaching often involves emotional support and motivation, which are areas where AI currently falls short, although there are promises of empathetic AI agents. AI lacks the emotional intelligence to provide the empathy, encouragement, and human connection that are crucial in helping individuals navigate career challenges and setbacks. This can make the coaching experience feel cold and impersonal – who will hand you a tissue when you need it or help with breathing when you get anxious?
AI can only respond to the questions you ask – not one ones you don’t, which an experienced career coach can pick up on from body language and avoidance strategies they are equipped to deal with. Your advice is only as good as the prompts you put in.
The non-verbal and body language piece is the biggest thing for me. When I work with clients, what they say is 10% of what I’m responding to. What message is their body conveying? How has their voice changed, breathing or their skin tone? And when we carry out somatic work, I’m watching how their body responds. Coaches are helping clients communicate with the pieces they weren’t aware of. You can’t get that with an AI prompts no matter how sophisticated.
- Over-reliance on technology
Relying too heavily on AI for career advice can lead to a lack of critical thinking and self-reflection. Job seekers may become overly dependent on the recommendations provided by AI, rather than developing their own decision-making skills and intuition. Like I did with my lock. This can hinder personal growth and adaptability in the long run. Sometimes you have to run the hard yards and think it through yourself.
I didn’t get answers to the questions I hadn’t asked as mentioned above.
- Inaccurate or outdated information
AI systems are only as accurate as the data they are fed. If the data is outdated or incomplete, the AI’s recommendations may be inaccurate or irrelevant. This can lead to poor career decisions based on misleading information. For example, an AI might recommend a career path that is no longer in demand or suggest outdated job search strategies. AI also taps into all data points, bad and good equally.
And don’t forget AI may not challenge you. The answers you get are only as good as the questions you ask.
- Ethical Considerations
The use of AI in career coaching raises ethical questions about accountability and transparency. Who is responsible if the AI provides harmful advice? How transparent are the algorithms and data sources used by the AI? These are important considerations that need to be addressed to ensure the ethical use of AI in career coaching.
As we are seeing many of the tech “broligarchy” are less concerned about ethics if they impact profitability.
Lack of accountability
AI can do some of the basic coaching as demonstrated by asking insightful questions and sharing tools but lacks the process of accountability and providing the motivation for someone to act.
Human Coaches vs AI: Why the Human Touch Still Matters
While AI can definitely help in some areas of career coaching, especially if you key in the right prompts, it’s important to to be aware not only of its limits but also your own shortcomings. AI is only as accurate as the information you ask for and how open you are to following though. A personal career coach offers tailored advice, emotional support, and a deeper understanding of your individual needs.
Yes, AI-powered platforms can provide basic career input, but it needs a critical eye and can be a good supplement or complement to human advice. And of course that pre-supposes that the human advice is top quality too.
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Don’t leave your career in the hands of algorithms. At 3Plus International, we provide the human insight, accountability, and tailored guidance AI can’t deliver. Ready to unlock your full potential with a coach who sees the real you?
