Third, experts were calling for a cautious approach to AI technology, which AI continually becomes more integrated into social care. They want to make sure that AI is the right solution and supports but does not supplant human interaction. Dr. Caroline Green, the director of research at the Institute for Ethics in AI, underscores an important aspect. While she claims AI is the answer to some of the social care sector’s challenges, it can’t be the only answer. With no official government policy guiding the use of AI in this sector, stakeholders are raising concerns about the implications for both caregivers and those they serve.
AI technologies are becoming more commonplace in care facilities to help monitor residents and provide assistance based on their needs. For example, Thomas Tredinnick, head of AllyCares, has created sensors that track activity in care home residents’ rooms overnight. These innovations are designed to better address preventable health events that would otherwise result in needed hospital admissions. Aislinn Mullee, deputy manager at one of these facilities, has some electrifying news to report: AI has transformed their capacity to identify pain in non-verbal residents. She says, “It’s very challenging to detect pain in a resident that doesn’t speak.”
Christine Herbert’s 99-year-old mother, Betty, is one of the New England residents currently reaping the rewards of AI technology. She is one of the nearly 500 residents living under surveillance. Herbert was alarmed when she first heard of this monitoring system. Because of her fears, she asked for and received nightly checks as part of her mother’s care for her mother’s initial nights in the new facility. Computer vision and the implementation of AI have mitigated many of her concerns. This way, staff is able to take a proactive approach in responding to health issues.
Dr. Green adds that AI has the potential to save time by significantly increasing operational efficiency and assisting with basic administrative responsibilities within social care. It can never substitute the humanity and personal warmth that are at the heart of caregiving. She continued by explaining, “AI is a part of the solution, not the entire solution. The dangers of over-reliance on AI are profound. This is all the more troubling because as the population ages we have greater needs for care services.
While this change offers tremendous advantages, there’s still an urgent need for an inclusive and accountable framework guiding AI’s use in social care. Dr. Green noted, “At the moment there’s no official government policy on guidance on the use of AI in social care.” The lack of regulation raises critical issues regarding the long-term direction of care delivery. Individuals have questions about what options they’ll have, especially if the technology goes mainstream.
Marco Pontin, a member of a team that created a robot capable of reacting to human touch, highlights that AI’s role should be seen as an enhancement of existing care practices. As he describes it, with a “digital twin” of their patients, occupational therapists can better understand their patients’ needs. In doing so, they’re able to extend their impact even when they’re not in the room.
Climate change expert Lee-Ann Fenge, who works within health and social care, supports Dr Green’s statement. She argues that while we move forward with new technologies, we need to maintain that human touch. We need to do a better job of educating people to help them better protect themselves,” she said. She urges us to consider both the positive potential and negative impacts of AI in health care equally.
Almost everyone believed that AI dramatically increased quality of care, particularly by remotely detecting health crises such as falls and chest infections before they escalated. Despite these differences, there remains a robust bipartisan agreement on the need for restraint going forward. As Dr. Green cautions, the danger is very real. He worries that AI could be seen as the magic bullet for the big problems in social care.