Fordham GSS Professor Lauri Goldkind, Ph.D., and Fordham M.S.W. candidate Adrienne Holmes collaborated on an article discussing both the positive and negative possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI) usage in child protective services. The article appears in CW360, an annual publication created by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare.
The article, titled “Child Welfare Intelligence? Opportunities and Challenges of Artificial
Intelligence Tools in the Child Protective Services Arena,” says responsible use of AI in social work hinges on two factors: clear policies around AI use, and professional development opportunities to enhance staff’s abilities utilizing the technology.
“The newer LLMs which can process and output text, audio, images and video, offer significant potential for improving internal operations of child welfare agencies and systems, but should be deployed only with great care and internal oversight,” the article reads.
Goldkind also notes that while AI’s bias-fueled downsides pose a large risk, there is no denying its upside, particularly in agencies strapped for resources. AI literacy, Goldkind says, will be crucial to ensuring agencies implement this inevitable technology efficiently and thoughtfully.
“Bringing staff together to learn about what AI is and how it could be applied in practice can help to demystify these new tools, potentially celebrating people who are already making use of them in their workflows, to start a conversation about how as an agency these systems could make sense,” Goldkind wrote.
If you’d like to learn more about Dr. Goldkind’s research on AI and social work, visit this webpage.
