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Generative AI & Social Work: It’s NOT the End of the World as We Know It

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“It’s critically important for us as a profession to understand how computer science and folks who are doing AI in health and mental health are thinking about the problems that we’re thinking of. Those engineers are 100% coming for you.”

Lauri Goldkind

Large language models, generative AI, natural language processing, ChatGPT and Dall-E are all conspiring to transform social work practice and education — at least, that’s the hype.

In this episode, Lauri Goldkind, PhD, LMSW, encourages us to take a breath and embrace the opportunities presented by these technologies. She recommends that we calmly and critically examine the evolution of AI, think creatively about its implications and advocate for collaborative conversations across disciplines. Transformative? Maybe. How about an open mind and a commitment to ethics and justice as we learn to ask the right questions?

Lauri Goldkind

Lauri Goldkind, PhD, LMSW, is an associate professor at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Service and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Technology in Human Services. Goldkind studies data justice and its practical applications for individuals and communities, as well as information and communication technologies in human services nonprofits.

She holds an MSW from Stony Brook University with a concentration in planning, administration and research, and a PhD from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University. Goldkind was in residence from June to August 2017 at the United Nations University Institute on Computing and Society, located in Macao, a special administrative region in China. Goldkind’s book, Digital Social Work, containing technology case studies for social workers, was edited with colleagues Lea Wolf and Paul Freddolino and published by Oxford University Press in 2018.

Show Notes

Cite this podcast – Sobota, P. (Host). (2024, Mar 26). Generative AI and Social Work: It’s NOT the End of the World as We Know It (No. 326)[Audio podcast episode]. In inSocialWork. University at Buffalo School of Social Work.

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