Last month, Verity met with researchers from around the world in Vilnius, Lithuania, for the ISPCAN Congress 2025.
She presented on key outcomes of SCALE’s two recent “Welsh AI and Social Care Summits”:
- AI should support, not replace, human contact in social care.
- Social workers need training in AI literacy to ensure responsible AI adoption and use.
- Bias mitigation, data security, accuracy and sustainability are key considerations for responsible AI in social care.
- AI to support child protection decision-making is potentially valuable but requires a cautious approach.
The main takeaway? There is an urgent, global need for evidence-based research to guide policy and practice as AI technologies become integrated into child protection systems. We hope that SCALE will be able to help fill this AI research gap in children’s social care.
ISPCAN, is the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. A multidisciplinary organisation which brings together professionals from medicine, social work, law, public health, and mental health.
Verity said:
“It was genuinely insightful to hear from professionals and other researchers about their views, concerns and hopes for AI. We discussed the challenge of AI literacy and importance of involving tech developers, children, families, researchers and professionals in tackling some of the key threats and opportunities posed by AI in child protection. I was buoyed by their passion and determination to take action – watch this space for future collaborations!”