In February 2024, a group of 30 organisations – academics, technologists, carers, people using care and support, and advisory bodies – met at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford to discuss what the responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in adult social care might look like.
Together we published the Oxford Declaration, which states: “We urgently need to develop a common, collaboratively developed framework to underpin the responsible use of generative AI in adult care.” The following article explains our work to date.
In late 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT and suddenly the whole world seemed to be talking about generative AI. It soon became clear that the world would never be the same again.
We knew this was and will continue to be an evolving story that affects all of us, including everyone in the social care community. This includes:
- People in need of care and support
- People who work in care
- Care organizations
- Nursing advocacy organizations
- Technology and software provider for the care community
- Legal and regulatory bodies
We wanted to build a learning and action network for the responsible use of generative AI in care and ensure that mistakes from the past are not repeated, where new technologies and innovations are used in care without involving all relevant groups of the care community. We wanted to learn from the past.
As a team, we knew we could bring together a broad range of people from different groups in the social care sector, so we set out to convene representatives from various stakeholders for a roundtable in early February 2024. We found a willing host in Reuben College, Oxford, and the affiliated Institute for Ethics in AI.
As three joint coordinators, we led a one-day working group of around 30 people to brainstorm ideas. From this group, we were able to develop the Oxford Declaration on the Responsible Use of Generative AI in Adult Social Care as a starting point. The focus on the word ‘responsible’ was a central part of the discussions, and it was emphasised that when talking about AI in a health or social care context, it should be a given to use AI responsibly.
Following the roundtable and our commitment to a six-month work plan, we have continued to make rapid progress, including establishing a steering committee to oversee our work, launching our public-facing web pages and fostering a growing number of working groups. Our shared goal is to collaborate on policy and application proposals for generative AI in social care. We want to create a movement that embraces the responsible use of AI and focuses on achieving the best outcomes for people who need care and support.
To achieve this, it is important that our work is collaborative, open and developed from scratch. For this reason, we work towards our goal in the following working groups:
- Care Workers: The Care Workers Charity co-organised a one-day workshop for care workers who wrote their own statement on the responsible use of generative AI.
- Care providers: The network of care providers is managed by the Digital Care Hub to identify what guidance and resources organizations need
- Technology and software experts: The expert reference group for technology and software companies meets to work on the principles for the use of AI in social care.
- Ethics and principles: The Principles Working Group, led by Donald MacAskill of Scottish Care, has developed a framework of principles to support care organisations in the adoption of AI.
- People with lived and living experience: Several co-production groups of people with lived and living experience have also been set up, meeting both virtually and in person
We stress that this is a movement rather than a work. It is evolving and we aim to bring together the work of all the working groups to introduce the care sector to a way of working with AI that can improve people’s lives. We are setting in motion a way of working that we believe can be adopted, improved and developed further by the entire care community.
The Oxford Project: Responsible use of generative AI in social care is an ongoing project. We aim to include use cases that demonstrate how people in care are using generative AI responsibly to achieve better outcomes, so come along on the journey with us.
Please share your thoughts and experiences and find a way to get involved: contact us via the Digital Care Hub or email [email protected].
Or you can contact the authors of this blog using the links below.
Katie ThornProject Manager at Digital Care Hub: Email, LinkedIn.
Caroline GreenInstitute for Ethics in AI, University of Oxford: Email, LinkedIn.
Daniel CassonManaging Director at Casson Consulting: Email, LinkedIn.
