Recently, I was asked to provide some feed back and a review of a new program on using AI tools for coaching.  

 

I will preface my comments with a very honest view, I am not a fan of A.I. and am against it in many ways.  My biggest concern is that it takes away the individual thought, the ability to be creative, and it hands you the answer without much thinking.  In fact there have been studies that show the impulses in brain waves when researching on your own, versus using an AI, and it showed a cognitive decline in those using A.I. only.  Plus, if an A.I. is writing the "thing" I am doing, it is not my words exactly, and too many people can claim the defense "well the AI said that, I didn't".  In the end, the safest way to judge the words are when they are our own.

 

Now don't get me wrong, an Artificial intelligence like Data from Star Trek could be cool, Skynet where it kills us all - eh not soo much, and those A.I.'s that are hacking companies - not cool.  But my wife has pointed out in our many heated debates, that people have to direct those A.I.'s in the nefarious directions - so it is still a human causing the issue (for now at least, until it becomes "aware"!)

 

So, I made myself do 2 of the categories, one Coaching module, and one for a Goalie.  I teach privately and have a client in college who has a lesson that is to incorporate skating work into her stick handling.  So I asked "Joshua" here to develop a 1 hour practice plan for me for her lesson.  (Joshua, the child/computer from WarGames.  Its a movie, if you are younger than me, you wont get the reference!)  I will admit that the plan doesn't look too bad, and I will even use it to give the product a fair trial.

 

The goalie module, I asked it about a skills drill for a youth goalie (my son is a 10u full-time goalie - hence the interest.).  It came back with the textbook answers I would expect for any goalie work, everything from positioning to T-slides, shot placement drills, etc.  It may be a little simplistic, but it covered fundamentals for a goalie practice and honestly at his age and even older, this is what I tend to look for when working with goalies on skill practices, then let them get flashier in game-style drills.

 

So lets take the average local house league, or C-League as my Canadian Friends may know it by, Parent-coach.  Parent, 9-5 job, possibly some remote work or maybe all from home.  2 kids, dog, gold fish, and there are 4 busy schedules to juggle at the home.  MAYBE they are home 1 weeknight and 1 night on the weekend.  And this parent has to run a practice in 2 days, and has had no time to work one up.  So they fire up the WOPR, and ask Joshua, "would you like to create a practice plan?"   It makes one, and then they have something to go by.  The parent's day is saved, the kids get some decent practice out of it, and everyone is happy.  So in this case I will admit, it can be a benefit in this fast paced world.

 

My concern is that if we enable or allow coaches to use A.I. to create practices every day, they will not develop as coaches, and then cannot develop a player properly when something does not go EXACTLY to the letter that the A.I. had intended.  One of our greatest abilities is that to process things and make different conclusions, often different than those we are with, and then to compile them into something greater.  I just think that if we hand the A.I. our clipboards and whistles, we are not fulfilling our true role as coaches, in working for those we are fortunate enough to be able to call us coach.  The best hands for this are still our own.

 

So, I am curious, my human coaching counterparts - what is your view on this?