AI could be time-saving for social workers but needs regulation, say sector bodies

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Social work bodies have called for the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) to address the ethical implications, as more councils employ AI tools to save time on administration.

Currently, 28 councils in England are using or testing the AI tool Magic Notes in children’s and adults’ services, to produce case notes from visits and assessments.

Developed by AI company Beam alongside social workers, Magic Notes records meetings and emails the practitioner a transcript, summary and suggested actions for inclusion in case notes based on council-agreed prompts.

According to Beam, the technology complies with social care statutory requirements and, in all cases, practitioners must review the documents before adding them to their case management systems.

Swindon Council, which piloted Magic Notes with 19 adult social workers between April and July 2014, found it reduced the average time to conduct a Care Act assessment conversation from 90 to 35 minutes and time spent on follow-up case notes from four to one-and-a-half hours.

The authority said the tool particularly benefited practitioners with learning difficulties and visual impairments, along with those who were not native English speakers.

Meanwhile, other local authorities, like Barnsley, are using another AI tool, Microsoft’s Copilot, with similar functions of transcribing meetings and generating notes and actions based on prompts.

Calls for regulation

However, the rise of AI in social work has also sparked concerns about data privacy for families, bias, and whether AI-generated actions will be adequately reviewed before being carried out.

Social Workers Union general secretary John McGowan said AI could be a “helpful time-saving tool”, but should not be used as a “quick fix” for the lack of funding and staff in the sector.

“Right now the onus should be on the social work regulators to produce guidance for using AI and on the government for centrally regulating AI,” he said.

“This would put protections in place for social workers and the people and families they support, as this technology has known issues, including biases, presenting false or misleading information as fact, data governance and growing concerns about environmental impact.”

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) also called for the regulation of AI, along with a national framework of ethical principles for its use, to ensure accountability to citizens and to uphold human rights.

‘We need to apply the brakes on AI’

Christian Kerr, senior social work lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, questioned whether local authorities had carefully considered AI’s implications for privacy and human rights.

“We need to apply the brakes on AI, or at least slow down considerably, to allow the social work regulator, our professional association, education providers and practising social workers to come to grips with the myriad ethical implications and challenges,” said Kerr.

“From my interactions with social workers across the country, it is clear to me that it is practitioners who are leading the ethical debate in local authorities and they need the support of social work leaders, organisations and educators to do that to best effect.”

Swindon’s adult social care privacy notice states that individuals are informed when Magic Notes is used for the recording of calls, with an option to opt out, and that personal data is automatically deleted after a maximum of one month.

Beam has also confirmed that no data is used to train AI systems and the tool has undergone data protection assessments prior to testing.

‘Social work must not be left behind’

However, while BASW chair Julia Ross acknowledged that AI had “bad bits”, she stressed that social workers must engage with the technology to avoid being left behind.

“We can promote what we do and give our input as social workers, but we’ve got to be there,” she said. “We can’t afford to be left behind. We’ll lose huge opportunities for ourselves, our practice and the people we work with.”

Welcoming the debate around AI in social work, she also urged the sector to take the time to understand its varying applications and potential uses before rejecting it.

“You don’t just get into it hook, line, and sinker,” Ross added. “What you do is adapt that tool and merge it with the emotional intelligence social workers are so good at. If we just stand back and say we don’t like it, then we won’t do ourselves, the profession or the people we work with any advantage.”

“We need to remember that social work operates in the real work and the real world now is an AI world.”

What do you think about the use of AI tools in social work?