Rey Carr of Peer.ca recently reported that two Dutch psychologists have designed an online robot "life coach" they call MindMentor. The robot takes the user through a basic neurolinguistic programming (NLP) process to help "solve" their problem.

To date MindMentor has completed 1760 "coaching" sessions with people from several countries, and received a satisfaction rating of 47%. In other words, almost half the people who tried MindMentor said their problem was "solved" after just one session with the robot.

I'm impressed but not surprised by this statistic. After all, often we just need a structure to help us sort out a confusing problem. Other times just "talking it out" with someone (even a robot?) helps us identify some options for ourselves.

I don't know the specifics of how it works, but my guess is that the robot is designed with a pattern-matching algorithm that enables it to provide the most common solutions to different problem sets (sort of like an online search function).

Although the research is in its early days, I find it noteworthy that MindMentor's success rate is consistent with research about the efficacy of psychological counselling in general - that about half the time people get better "on their own".

Does the success of MindMentor undermine or diminish the value of human coaches? Not at all. I predict MindMentor will be a useful tool for certain types of clients (i.e. those that like technological approaches and are responsive to NLP techniques) to sort out thoughts and generate options. But I doubt it will be capable of the subtle communication necessary for masterful coaching. And as this research is new, there hasn't yet been follow-up to see how lasting the results were.

But think of the possibilities! What a great tool for people who can't afford to hire a life coach. Or as a tool for coaching clients to use between sessions. Or as a way to gather research on typical problems and responses.

I'm fascinated by this project, and look forward to reading the results of the researchers' analysis when available.