The potential of AI to support everyday work in the social sector

Can AI to help streamline everyday life in the social sector? A new project , coordinated by Turku UAS, is exploring what kind of tasks in the social sector would benefit from using AI and how to do it ethically and safely.

Turku University of Applied Sciences has started to explore how generative AI could be used in the social sector.
Social workers are under pressure from organisational changes, financially , labour shortages and the growing demands of digitalisation. The use of AI has the potential to streamline work and support job satisfaction.

The aim of a three-year AI TEKO! – AI for workplaces in social services -project is to bring generative AI into the social services work in a way that supports quality of work, well-being and leadership.

– The AI TEKO! project focuses on strengthening the skills of social workers and management. The project deepens the understanding of generative AI solutions, such as tools based on language models, and how they can be used to support work in different tasks in the social sector,” says Anne Rouhelo, Project Manager at Turku UAS.

According to Rouhelo, the aim is to help organisations identify meaningful uses of AI and adopt new ways of working in a controlled, ethical and sustainable way.

Wide cooperation with professionals

In addition to Turku UAS, Centria University of Applied Sciences, Häme University of Applied Sciences, Vaasa University of Applied Sciences and Yrkeshögskolan vid Åbo Akademi (Novia) are involved in the project.

The project is carried out in close cooperation with social workers and involves nearly 30 organisations from all over Finland. They include professionals from disability services, services for the elderly, child protection, mental health and substance abuse services, crisis, housing and family services, among others. They work with social micro and SMEs, welfare regions, organisations and associations.

– We will start by mapping the baseline situation of the participating organisations and drafting ethical recommendations for the use of AI. Based on this, we will build an AI roadmap to help organisations plan their AI deployment in the long term. We will start experimenting with AI in concrete work tasks in the daily lives of both employees and the frontline staff. The aim is to create enthusiasm – to find creative possibilities together,” says Piia Uusi-Kakkuri, who is responsible for project at Vaasa University of Applied Sciences.

The project can help organisations streamline their work processes and reduce routine manual work, freeing up time for customer work, work development or, for example, increasing your own professional skills.

– This can improve well-being at work, make work more meaningful and increase the attractiveness of the social sector. We are also building an AI roadmap and other material that will support management in responsible use of AI and support the development of staff skills,” says Paula Hakala, responsible for the project at Häme University of Applied Sciences.

The materials produced during the project, such as clear and practical guides, coaching materials and clearly documented case studies, will be published openly to support social sector development beyond the project.

The project is co-funded by the European Social Fund.

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