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There’s a debate among the general public on the subject of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and its rise in the workforce. Some people hate it, stating that AI takes jobs away from actual human beings, that the margin for error vastly outweighs the benefits and that AI robots, at some point, are going to become sentient and have minds and emotions of their own and will eventually grow to resent the human race so they will have no choice but to eradicate it.
That’s one group of people.
The other group of people understand that AI wasn’t designed (for the most part) to work against people; it was designed to work for people. AI, in the right hands, has the potential to become a vital tool to those who use it, similar to the internet, or Google, or any other form of technology that, originally, people opposed until they realized how much time it actually saved them.
Auston Larson, the creator of SLP Tools, is a member of the latter group. And he has created software specifically designed to empower, enrich and expand the work of Speech Language Pathologists.
“Speech Language Pathologists work with individuals who have communication disorders,” Larson stated. “And with SLP Tools, I sort of provide the tech backing. Across the board, SLPs are under-resourced and kind of overwhelmed. And so, what our platform does is offer a number of different AI tools that help speed up certain aspects of the job.”
For example, Larson said, if an SLP is planning a therapy session for a person, and they need specific resources when they’re working on specific diagnoses that an individual may have, SLP Tools is able to create personalized therapy materials in minutes, from interactive social stories to tailored articulation exercises and more.
Additionally, SLP Tools is able to assist SLPs with their documentation and reporting. The SLP Tools website invites users to “Leverage AI to transform how session notes and client reports are created [by providing] succinct summaries and goal-tracking reports, allowing for more time spent with clients and less on paperwork.”
Almost everybody in the medical field, or therapy field, would say that the note-taking, reporting and documenting aspect of the job is their least favorite part. Though it is absolutely essential, it’s also time-consuming and, frankly, quite boring. SLP Tools was designed to help shoulder some of that burden for Speech Language Pathologists.
Larson, himself, knows about many of the struggles that SLPs endure because his business partner, Kara Roberts, is a Speech Language Pathologist.
She’s also his mother.
Roberts provides insight as an SLP, while Larson focuses on the tech aspects. Larson is a software engineer by trade and when AI first came on the scene, he was one of the people who was less annoyed, more intrigued by its rise.
“When ChatGPT first came out, I was using it pretty much every day at work,” he shared. “Whether I was having it help me write some code, or I was using to learn about different things. And I was just curious one day if it would be something that would be useful to professions outside of the tech industry.”
Larson said that in the spirit of that curiosity, he introduced ChatGPT to his mother, who, in turn, also became curious.
And, really, that’s the best way to come to the idea of Artificial Intelligence — with curiosity, with interest, with playful intrigue. AI is not something to be afraid of. It’s not something to run from. It’s also not something being used to completely replace human interaction. It is, simply, something to be curious about.
At least, that’s what Larson and his mother believe, and that’s why they started thinking about ways that AI could assist SLPs.
“She found that it was actually super useful for her profession as a Speech Language Pathologist,” Larson said. “I was watching how she was interacting with the system, and how she was using it, and given my tech background, I realized that I could really streamline that interaction that she was having with ChatGPT. I thought that I could turn it into a little website, we could build out some tools, and just kind of make that interaction a little more consistent and a little easier easier to do.”
“Easy” is the operative word. SLP Tools claims to offer “a seamless and straightforward user experience. No technical expertise required to maximize the potential of AI in your practice.”
In other words, you don’t need to be software engineer to be able to utilize this software. Larson specifically designed SLP Tools to be intuitive, innovative and easily operated.
“Our platform is really designed to empower SLPs and to offer them these different tools that they can have in their utility belt to do their jobs faster and with better results,” Larson said. “I’ve tried to design this in a way that is approachable to a non-technical person so that when they’re using our system, they don’t even really have to know that it’s AI under the hood.”
So what is under the hood of SLP Tools? What does it actually do? What are the specific tools that SLP Tools offers SLPs?
“So, they fall into three separate categories,” Larson offered. “We have Therapy Resource Creation, which generates very specific resources for therapy sessions. We have a Session Planning tool, that takes in context about the individual an SLP is working with — what their goals are, what their past goals were, their progress towards those goals, etc. — and then it can generate therapy session recommendations for the SLP about what they could do to continue working on those things. And then we have some tools that fall into the documentation realm. It allows the SLP to quickly jot down notes and then it can format those notes into standard formats that all SLPs are used to, such as SOAP Notes.”
In essence, SLP Tools is just that: It’s a tool. It’s like having an assistant that takes notes without taking up space.
Of course, assistants make mistakes. So, too, does AI. And that reinforces how important it is to include the human element when using AI in any type of workforce.
“Much like with any AI tool, you want to take everything with a grain of salt,” Larson said. “This is supposed to serve as a starting point. Ideally, we’d love it if we got all of our tools to the point where, say, 99.9% of the time you’re using it, it’s 100% exactly what you wanted. But the reality is, it’s going to be less than that.”
Still, Larson said, so far the program has been even more successful than they anticipated, and that success rate will only continue to grow, as SLP Tools, the company, grows as well.
Part of that growth includes being one of the five finalists in the Casper Start-Up Challenge, which, according to the Advance Casper website, exists to help “new, independent businesses in the seed, start-up, or early growth stages in Natrona County.” The top three winners of the Casper Start-Up challenge will receive seed money, in addition to marketing, networking and mentorship assistance throughout the challenge and beyond.
Larson, joined by his business partner Camdin Hinkel, will present their business plan for SLP Tools during the 2024 Casper Start-Up Challenge Pitch Night, happening on Sept. 5 at Frontier Brewing Company. The Pitch Night starts at 5:30 p.m. and the public is welcome to attend and hear Larson and Hinkel, as well as the other finalists, pitch their start-ups to a select, diverse panel of judges.
“The Casper Start-Up Challenge is hugely important to local entrepreneurs because it’s an awesome resource for businesses to get a bit of equity without having to dilute their own,” Larson said. “But it’s not just from a monetary perspective. There is also mentorship, and connections that are made, and it serves as a really good platform so that others in the community can see what businesses are out there. This isn’t something that happens in bigger cities. The Start-Up Challenge sort of serves as a beacon to everyone who wants to start a small business. It shows them that cool things are happening in our state and, hopefully, it will inspire other people to do something great!”
Larson said that, with or without winning the Casper Start-Up Challenge, SLP Tools is looking for beta participants to test out the software. Speech therapists can reach out to Larson via the SLP Tools Facebook page or by using the sign-up form on their website.
If SLP Tools does receive any seed money, however, Larson hopes to hire some temporary software developers to build out the project more. He would also use the money to do different types of marketing to Speech Language Pathologists in Wyoming and beyond.
“We’re software as a service, so that means we’re very scalable,” Larson said. “So hopefully, in the future, we can bring in money to Wyoming, and hire people here in the local community. I think we’re uniquely set up as a software company, such that we can scale out pretty quickly and grow pretty fast, without using as much money as some other businesses might need to.”
If a business can earn money while saving money, that is a business to get behind. And with or without winning the Casper Start-Up Challenge, SLP Tools is a company to get behind.
SLP Tools was designed for Speech Language Pathologists, by a Speech Language Pathologist (and her software engineering son). It was created, as its name implies, to be just one of the many tools that SLPs use to help those dealing with communication issues. SLPs help people find their voice, and both Larson and his mom wanted to create something that helped others help others. That is what they have done with this business.
“I really believe in what we’re doing,” Larson said. “I think we’re helping out individuals in a profession where they are traditionally very overworked, with high caseloads. We’re trying to help ease that burden. We’re trying to help people.”
Auston Larson is excited and proud to be one of the finalists in this unique, diverse competition. And he hopes that the Casper Start-Up Challenge will help him help others help others.
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