AI software a ‘game changer’ for social workers

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Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70wj5wg5r6o

Artificial intelligence (AI) software cut the hours that social workers spent on admin tasks by more than 60% in a recent pilot scheme.

Magic Notes, a tool which records conversations and generates assessments, was trialled by 19 Swindon Borough Council social workers, with “overwhelmingly positive” results.

The workers were able to spend more time “engaging in meaningful, person-centred conversations with those they support”, the council said.

Councillor Ray Ballman, cabinet member for adult social care, said Magic Notes had been “a game changer”.

The software, developed by UK-based organisation Beam, was trialled across 184 meetings between April and June and led to an average 63% drop in the amount of time that social workers spent on compiling assessments.

The council said that the average time to conduct an assessment dropped from 90 minutes to 35 minutes, and the time needed to write up assessments fell from four hours to 90 minutes.