The Human Coach

MUSINGS FROM A COACH - 15 APRIL '25

Over the past few years, the topic of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and its potential impact on various professions has only grown, sparking a range of emotions from concern to despair. The Endurance Sports coaching profession has not been immune to the A.I. hype.

For our profession, we’ve transitioned from generic training documents created on spreadsheets by “anyone” to customized Chat GPT daily training plans tailored to the specific individual who posed the query. In today’s context of a generic, customized, and AI-generated plan, it’s evident how significantly superior these plans are compared to those designed for a much broader athlete.

But...

No A.I. coach will ever be as good as a human coach. Period. While coaching involves programming, data analysis, and programming adjustments, and many other processes that could be learned and replicated to a certain degree of accuracy by AI, it also includes decision-making that often contradicts algorithms and mathematical equations.

Why? Because coaching is about relationships. It's a business of relationships. These valued relationships lead to nuanced decisions that defy simple mathematical equations. Good coaches make daily decisions based on the entire individual athlete, considering not only their physiology but also their mental and emotional state, their potential for greatness, patterns of performance, their outside environment, and more. The possibilities are endless.

So where does that leave A.I. and technology at large in the life of athletes and coaches? Contrary to what you might think based on what I've written so far, I believe they have value in both.

For the aspiring athlete who does not hire a coach, technology and A.I. are the "best substitute" available for a human coach out there. At least the athlete can get some of those programming and analytics which are much better than days of old.

And how about for the coach? I think technology and A.I. only add to their skillset to support athletes. In other words, the only thing better than a human coach is a human coach who knows how to harness the best out of technology and A.I.

Now if athletes out there don't believe me, then it's on me to prove it to them by just being a better coach. And that's what I tell other coaches in the endurance sports world, "Don't get rattled by the onslaught of "coaching companies" out there promoting A.I., just keep being better at being a human coach." Because, "No A.I. coach will ever be as good as a human coach. Period." :)

ps - The irony of this article be curated by A.I. in the endless world of the internet does not escape me....

Gratefully,

Mark

CEO Team MPI