Are you a robot? MI and AI

Recently I watched a fascinating webinar that explores the way AI is being used in the world of Motivational Interviewing

Organisations are teaching AI to give feedback on how effectively someone is listening, to assess how well they are demonstrating their understand of that person. The speakers in the webinar explore how we can use AI to reach more people, to help us be better helpers and teachers, not to replace our jobs but to improve them. It was an optimistic vision and full of hope.

One of the things we talk about in MI is getting ourselves out of the way. Putting to one side our biases and judgments. Could we learn something from AI here? How to bring neutrality to our helping spaces?

We like to think that humans are irreplaceable. Are there things AI won’t ever be able to do? I suspect it’s those things that are the hardest to learn. How to be our most authentic, open, hopeful, caring, compassionate selves, even when we are tired, or biased, or judgemental. It can be hard to get it right, but when we do, I don’t think any machine could replicate it.

– Lynne.