Exploring AI's Role as a Career Coach

Unlocking the Potential of AI in Career Guidance

In a recent session, the school's Higher Education and Careers Team led an insightful lesson for our Year 11 students, delving into how AI can act as a Career Coach. The students were encouraged to discover how using tailored AI prompts can utilise this cutting-edge technology to revolutionise how they approach their future career paths. Higher Education and Careers Counsellor, Ruth McAteer shares the insights with us.

The lesson highlighted AI's ability to provide personalised insights and tailored recommendations, empowering students to make more informed decisions about their professional aspirations. By leveraging the power of data analysis and machine learning, the Team demonstrated to students that AI can offer a level of career guidance that was previously unimaginable.

Fostering Critical Evaluation and Ethical Awareness

However, the crux of the lesson was to encourage students to think critically about the strengths and weaknesses of AI in the context of career guidance. The team emphasised the importance of understanding this technology's cultural and ethical implications and the crucial need for data protection.

Through lively discussions and hands-on activities, the students actively explored the nuances of an AI Career Coach versus a Human Career Coach. This active participation allowed them to develop a comprehensive understanding of the potential benefits and drawbacks of AI-powered career guidance.

Embracing AI's Potential, Shaping a Brighter Future

The session concluded with a strong message: our students have the potential to shape a future where AI not only advances careers but also promotes inclusivity and ethical awareness. The HE and Careers team reiterated the importance of understanding the potential of AI, while also stressing the need to be mindful of its impact and advocate for responsible implementation.

By empowering our students to think critically and engage with the ethical considerations surrounding AI, we are equipping them with the skills and mindset to navigate the ever-evolving job market and contribute to a future where technology serves as a force for positive change.

Student reactions and comments captured during the session give us more insights into students' lives and experiences and their trust/mistrust of artificial intelligence when it comes to advice and guidance:

“A lack of emotional knowledge makes me think that an in-person coach would be better.”

“AI is good to use as a guide and is good for a first step.”

“AI cannot offer advice based on how well they know you and can only offer you advice based on how you instruct it.”

“I think it is good as it is able to give objective informed suggestions, based on prompts, and it’s able to evaluate your ability giving you the best schools and job ideas.”

“A person would understand cultural stereotypes and ideals quicker than the time taken to train an AI.”

“It is a surprise to me to think that AI could be a career coach; I would want to learn a lot more about designing the prompts to use AI effectively.”

“I don’t think it’s safe as organisations might own the data you enter.”

“Both people and AI would be better because the intelligence of AI is much more advanced - combining this with the emotional intelligence of humans would make this the best solution for today’s tech world.”