Welfare, artificial intelligence allied to social workers
In Irpinia, a consortium of 28 municipalities uses the help of an English social enterprise for social workers, psychologists and educators
Key points
There is no artificial intelligence policy in which 'the human is at the centre' is not reiterated. But how to turn a desirable intention into concrete practice? There is some hope when the technology is conceived and designed by those who use it, i.e. the users. As in the case of Beam, a British social enterprise that helps refugees and the homeless find housing and work with the support of welfare platforms.
A technology designed with users in mind
Founder Alex Stephany, a social entrepreneur with a technological approach, created two years ago together with Seb Barker (with experience in direct care services) an artificial intelligence for his hundred frontline operators. This solution has proved so successful that it has been adopted by 50 thousand operators in more than one hundred public bodies, welfare organisations and associations. "Within our organisation, early research suggests annual savings of up to one million pounds in labour costs for every one hundred social workers. So much so that today 65 per cent of social services in the UK use our solution," explains Davide Bertone, Head of Beam's Italian partnerships.
The partnership in Irpinia
The London-based social enterprise's Ai has arrived in Irpinia, where it is used by some fifty social workers who assist over 100,000 citizens. With Magic Notes, operators can press 'record' on their laptop or smartphone and turn the conversation into notes and evaluations in seconds. The solution records, writes and structures information, allowing the operator to edit and interact with the text. Magic Reports, on the other hand, combines documents, notes, audio and video to create complex reports, such as social assessments or reports for the courts.
In Campania, Ai was customised according to the specific professional figures (social worker, psychologist, educator, administrator) and with forms tailored to the different situations. A job done together with people who have also received specific training. Each operator saves more than 12 hours per week, one third of the 36 working hours.
De Blasio: 'The first solution for operators'
"There are already Ai solutions for delivering welfare services, but this initiative with Beam is not aimed at citizens, except as end recipients, but at working organisations, at our employees. I believe that this is an absolute novelty in Italy,' explains Carmine De Blasio, general manager of the Consorzio dei Servizi Sociali A/5 di Atripalda, a public body to which 28 municipalities belong. 'It is also particularly significant that this is happening in an inland area like Irpinia. The Ai was also tested in the local dialect, to make sure that it could also understand Irpinian.
