Can AI really fix your sleep?

Oct 10

Hi friends,

It’s been a while since I last wrote. The last Snoozeletter went out at the end of July. I took August and September as a summer sabbatical to focus on motherhood and other projects, but considering it was still 90 degrees this past weekend, I think summer decided to stretch itself a little longer too.

Now, on this rainy, cool Wednesday morning, it finally feels like time to write to you again.

CAN AI FIX YOUR SLEEP?(Short answer: no)

Several months ago a fellow sleep coach messaged me on Instagram and asked,

“Do you think our potential clients are leaning toward AI to help with their sleep?”

It’s a fair question. Things have been slower for many of us lately, and with everyone talking about AI, it’s easy to wonder if people are replacing human coaches with chatbots.

I told her, honestly: "I don’t think so. But maybe. And maybe we should discuss why its not effective."

I think the world’s just in a season of uncertainty: with the economy, with routines, with everything. But it did get me thinking about why sleep coaching is one of those things that can’t actually be outsourced to AI.

Sure, AI can give you a sleep hygiene checklist when you type "why can’t I sleep?" into a chatbot at 2 AM. But that doesn’t make it a sleep coach. If anything, it can leave you more confused, or even more awake, than before.

AI doesn’t know your life. It doesn’t know your medical history and you don't know what parts of your heath history or life to tell it about. Your hormones, work stress, or the way your child crawls into bed and kicks you in the face at 3 AM.

It’s pulling from a random grab bag of the internet. It mixes together research papers, blog posts, Reddit threads, and social media advice. Some of it’s useful, a lot of it’s not, and occasionally it’s flat-out wrong.

WHAT AI MISSES THAT A HUMAN DOESN'T

Sleep isn’t one-size-fits-all. It’s shaped by biology, psychology, behavior, environment, and habit.

Real sleep coaching is about:
• Finding the root cause of your restlessness.
• Testing strategies in the right order, with accountability.
• Having someone guide you through the messy, nonlinear process of change.

AI can’t reassure you that one rough night doesn’t undo weeks of progress. It may not notice that your sleep worsens before your period or that your late workouts might be cutting into deep sleep.

A human can.

Sleep is a deeply human experience. My calls with clients are tender, complicated, and responsive to the rhythms of real life.

Ive been working with some companies lately on apps for sleep and behavior change. I am happy to provide the sleep hygiene part but I don't know how an app will be able to provide context, compassion, and sometimes a good laugh at how unpredictable the process is.

That’s why I do what I do. My work blends clinical sleep science (Oxford training) with movement, meditation, and behavior change so the process actually fits you.

WHAT AI CAN HELP WITH

To be fair, AI can be a useful starting point.

It can help you:
• track sleep data and spot broad trends
• generate sample bedtime or morning routines
• summarize credible information
• clarify your goals or patterns before coaching

Think of it like a helpful intern. It can organize notes and pull information,
but it can’t understand your emotional landscape, know what questions to ask you, when to refer you to a doctor and which one, how to give you the proper sleep pressure and compression, or keep you accountable.

IF YOU ARE READY FOR REAL SUPPORT

I have a openings this fall for 1:1 sleep coaching.

If you’re tired of trying to do it all on your own (or with ChatGPT), hit reply and tell me what’s been keeping you up.

We’ll build a plan that works in your real life, not someone else’s algorithm.

Sarah

Sarah Petroski, PGDip Sleep Medicine
Sleep coach • Movement educator • Human being

PS. Yes, I sometimes use AI to help brainstorm words and even to write the Snoozeletter but the experience, education, and empathy behind my live video coaching calls are all human 🖤.