If I paid thousands of dollars for a coach and they gave me a chatbot...

My immediate reactions would be:

1. “So… where did you go?”

Not consciously hostile — but subtly disappointing.

I didn’t pay for:

An interface

A language model

Something I could have prompted myself

I paid for:

Their judgment

Their pattern recognition

Their ability to decide what matters

A chatbot shifts the work back onto me.

Instead of feeling guided, I feel like I’ve been handed homework.

1. It feels like delegation, not delivery

A chatbot says:

“Explore this. Ask better questions.”

A premium service should say:

“Here’s what matters. Here’s why. Here’s what to do next.”

Even if the chatbot is powered by their thinking, the experience feels outsourced.

That creates a quiet but powerful doubt:

“If this is the output, how much of my fee actually went into insight?”

1. It collapses perceived value immediately

Chatbots are now ambient.

Free

Everywhere

Identical in tone

Interchangeable

The moment a coach hands me one, my brain subconsciously compares:

This vs ChatGPT

This vs a $20 tool

This vs something I could have built myself

Even if unfair — that comparison happens automatically.

Premium pricing cannot survive that moment.

1. It introduces anxiety where there shouldn’t be any

Instead of confidence, I feel:

Am I asking the right thing?

What if I miss something important?

Is this answer “final” or just one possibility?

Do I trust this, or do I keep probing?

That’s cognitive load, not value.

A great coach removes uncertainty — they don’t multiply it.

1. It weakens the coach’s authority

This is subtle but real:

When the interface is a chatbot:

The AI feels like the expert

The human fades into the background

The thinking feels generic, even if it isn’t

I stop thinking:

“This is their perspective.”

And start thinking:

“This is what AI thinks.”

That’s dangerous for anyone whose business depends on credibility.

1. It feels lazy — even if it isn’t

This is uncomfortable, but honest.

Right or wrong, my gut reaction is:

“They automated the delivery, not the thinking.”

And in premium services, perception is reality.

If I wanted self-serve AI exploration:

I wouldn’t hire a coach

I wouldn’t pay thousands

I wouldn’t expect polish

What would feel right instead

If I paid thousands, I would expect:

A finished assessment

A clear point of view

Prioritised recommendations

Something I can read, save, revisit

Something that says: “This is how this person thinks.”

If AI is involved, I don’t want to see it.

I want to see outcomes.

The core truth

Chatbots are excellent for:

Internal thinking

Exploration

Drafting

Sense-making

Iteration

They are not excellent for:

Delivering authority

Transmitting trust

Justifying premium fees

Representing expertise

If I’m the client, I don’t want ai ~~conversation.~~

I want clarity.