Introduction to AI Literacy in Social Work Training - Considerations for safe, effective and ethical practice
**NEW TOPIC – THIS FIRST DATE IS EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE TO BASW MEMBERS!**
The purpose of this session is to introduce participants to fundamentals of AI literacy relating to key practical and ethical considerations for using Generative AI (GenAI) in social work
GenAI is increasingly in use in social work practice and its development and deployment are moving at speed. Different employers are adopting different platforms, some of which are bespoke tools for social care (e.g MagicNotes) whilst others are generic mainstream products that are not purpose-built for use in social work and social services (e.g. CoPilot).
The introduction of GenAI by many employers has raised a number of questions and concerns for social workers that go to the core of social work practice. This session will therefore explore how, in the absence of government regulation of AI in public services and guidance from the workforce regulators, practitioners might use GenAI in a way that is effective, safe and ethical. Doing so will enable participants to better maximise the potential benefits of using GenAI, especially for time-saving, whilst avoiding some of the core risks associated with its use.
Session outline: -
✨ Part I: Introduction to GenAI - Broad ethical and practical considerations - Need for updated organisational policies - Maximising the potential benefits of GenAI – time-saving, efficiency and more
✨ Part II: Your use of Gen AI - How to use GenAI effectively e.g. what can it be asked to do? how to write a prompt; the importance of checking output - How to use GenAI safely e.g. data protection/security - How to use GenAI ethically e.g. informed consent; transparency, respecting choice - ‘Keeping the human in the loop’ - the importance of ownership and checking output
✨Part III: Questions and discussion - Sharing experiences of use of GenAI and unpacking questions and issues arising with peer group
✨Learning Outcomes: By the end of the session, participants should be able to: - Understand key practical and ethical questions surrounding the use of GenAI in social work - Explore considerations of safe, ethical and effective use of GenAI - Analyse the need for updating organisational policies to reflect the growing use of GenAI in practice
A digital summary document and Certificate of Learning will be provided to all registered delegates following the session.
Benefit/impact: The session aims to improve the confidence of participants in their own use of GenAI and in the supervision of others using GenAI in their practice to ensure GenAI is being used in a safe, ethical and appropriate way.
The Trainer - Dr Rosanne Palmer:-
Rosanne is the BASW Policy and Research Lead Officer where, amongst other things, she has led BASW’s work on the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and is the lead on the use of Generative AI in social work practice, being the principal author of BASW’s position statement and its initial guidance on ethics and practice in the use of Generative AI.
Further dates for this topic will be made available in the future.
You can also commission this session solely for your organisation at a time and date that suits your employees. Contact ProfDE@basw.co.uk for availability.