FIRE Social Worker Show
Welcome to The FIRE Social Worker Show, where financial independence meets compassion and purpose. Hosted by Joey Laswell, a Certified Financial Social Worker and military veteran, this podcast is your guide to building a brighter financial future while staying true to your values.
Join us for candid conversations, actionable money tips, and inspiring stories from industry experts, military members, and everyday changemakers. Whether you’re a social worker, part of the military community, or simply seeking financial freedom, this show is here to empower you.
It’s time to ignite your financial independence and create a lasting impact. Start your journey with The FIRE Social Worker Show!
FIRE Social Worker Show
Harnessing AI: Dr. Badillo-Diaz on Transforming Social Work and Ethical Innovation
In this engaging third-round discussion, Joey Laswell, The FIRE Social Worker, reconnects with Dr. Marina Badillo-Diaz, The AI Social Worker, to explore the rapidly evolving intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Social Work.
We discuss:
The ethical considerations and potential of AI in social work practice.
* How AI tools like ChatGPT and HIPAA-compliant solutions (Bastion GPT, Uphill) are helping practitioners reduce burnout and streamline administrative tasks.
* The impact of AI on social work education, research, and workforce readiness.
* Real-world applications, from chatbot therapy assistants to tools for analyzing client trends.
* International perspectives on AI adoption in social work, including Dr. Badillo-Diaz’s upcoming Canadian symposium.
*The exciting potential of creating a social work tech collective to stay ahead of the curve.
Joey also shares his journey using AI to develop creative projects like The Social Worker, a serialized graphic novel, and innovative tools for financial counseling.
Key Topics Covered:
⏱️ [Timestamps]
00:00 - Introduction and catching up
04:35 - AI tools for social workers: Practical applications and ethical concerns
15:20 - Addressing skepticism and excitement around AI in social work
25:10 - AI in education: Student perspectives and ethical boundaries
35:45 - Emerging AI tools for mental health and clinical practice
48:00 - The creative use of AI: Joey’s Social Worker project
54:20 - Building the “AI Avengers” and fostering community among social workers
Links Mentioned:
The AI Social Worker Website: www.aisocialworker.com
Joey’s FIRE Social Worker: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559229661247
Featured Tools: Bastion GPT, YouMore, Uphill
Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more discussions on social work, financial empowerment, and technology!
#SocialWork #ArtificialIntelligence #AIEthics #FIRESocialWorker #MentalHealth #TechForGood #AIandSocialWork #AISocialWorker
Please join me on my different platforms and follow along my journey towards FIRE.
https://laswell.veteran.cards/
All right, hey everybody, this is Joey Laswell. I am the FIRE social worker and this is round three of our discussion with the AI social worker. We have Dr Badillo-Diaz. Thanks, joey, it's great to be here. It's been almost four months since we last talked, so basically one quarter has gone by of the year. I know you've been like since the last time we talked. You've been super busy. I've been pretty busy with a lot of projects and things too. But you know, I just thought it would be a good time to jump back in the conversation with you, kind of get an idea of like where you think things are headed with AI and social work in general and you know just kind of. You know explain and explore different topics about AI and social work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, super excited to be here. It's always nice to chat, hear about the amazing things that you're doing. I'm so excited to share what's been going on in my realm with the AI social worker and just feel really fortunate to be here with you today.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Yeah, thank you, same here. Okay, so we were talking a little bit prior to the stream, but we're just doing a little bit of catching up. But for the people that are listening on the podcast and watching this after the fact, can you give us a little bit of rundown what's been going on with you the last few months?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's been a busy semester. As you know, I'm teaching at a couple you know universities, so I've been, you know, just really grateful for those opportunities and just been diving into, you know, just supporting students. But it's been really exciting to kind of bring in more of AI into the classroom. So that is something again, as an educator, I've been really intentional about bringing in not only you know how can I weave it into my coursework and my assignments, but also really engaging with students on the really important topic for our MSW and even also the doctoral students that I teach to as well, of how is AI going to be impacting the landscape of our field. So that's some of the work that I teach to as well of how is AI going to be impacting the landscape of our field. So that's some of the work that I've done.
Speaker 2:Since the last time that we spoke at the end of August, I launched my new website, the AI social workercom.
Speaker 2:I've had over 3000 views, which I'm super just pumped about and just so happy that you know it's free resources for social workers on how to use AI. I have a whole free prompt library with over, you know, 30 prompts that can support social workers and different tasks using AI. So that's been really exciting to launch. And I've also done a couple of trainings as well too. You know I come from the realm of school social work and education, so I've done some trainings for some state chapters of school social workers, some school districts, and it's just been really exciting to engage social workers in the field to talk about this technology. Some are really excited that they kind of knew about Chat2BT, but you know we got into some really great discussion, you know, in the training sessions and how to just really take their AI practice to the next level, or those who are just really new with AI have never tried it before. We're excited to also be able to try these new tools and talk about how they can incorporate this in their practice.
Speaker 1:Yeah that's awesome. So in the general feedback, like, has it been mostly positive or kind of, you know, pessimistic, cynical, nervous, or how does the feedback been from you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, all of the above, and I think initially there's, you know, hesitation, concern, and rightfully so, I think. As social workers we are trained to think about things critically. We're trying to think about how this is going to impact our communities, our marginalized communities. What does this mean for our ethics, right? So I think these are really important concerns to have and you know I've had social workers kind of, you know, share concerns like what if we over rely on these tools?
Speaker 1:Is it?
Speaker 2:going to take, you know, parts of my job and am I going to be able to still do the quality, quality work? And then there's some that are like I just have a lot of technological gaps. I'm really confused how this technology even works and, and I think there's kind of like this sort of novice sort of unknown. And then there's some that are like really concerned about the ethics and the data privacy and as we, you know, should be concerned about those things as well too.
Speaker 2:But there's been, you know, some trainings that it's like, oh man, I'm retired, like I wish we had these tools and I was like I can make my job you know job, so much easier and I think that's been such an exciting part of that work and those conversations to really empower and uplift you know, because I know burnout is so real for so many of our social workers out there. So to really hear people walk away. This is just. I'm invigorated by you know doing my job. I'm so excited to try these tools really help me, you know, in my, in my everyday job tasks to make it easier, and that, just to me, is exactly why I do these trainings.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's awesome and I, you know, I think that it is. We've talked about it before. We do need to keep, you know, an eye on being cautious and, you know, and learning how to use these appropriately, and learning how to use these appropriately, but then also, we don't want to get left behind. So I think, having, like I said, these discussions to really put it into the ethos and say, okay, look, it's happening, it's here, it's even more advancing now since we've been chatting.
Speaker 1:So it's not going anywhere anytime soon. If anything, it's just going to start accelerating more and more. Right, yeah, and you know, like Chachaviti just had its.
Speaker 2:So it's not going anywhere anytime soon. If anything, it's just going to start accelerating more and more. Right, yeah, and you know, like Chachaviti just had its birthday right, it's two years old now. So you know, it's still in its infancy stage. But, like you said, we have to adapt, we have to pivot, and this also is something I say in my trainings too.
Speaker 2:Like you can choose whether or not you want to use these tools, right, that is totally up to you, your sense of agency.
Speaker 2:But you can't just not know about these tools and not know how these tools work, because they're going to be impacting you. They're going to be impacting your clients and the communities that you're servicing, you know, especially from a mental health perspective. We know, you know there's some not so great sides or some dark sides to this technology, with deep fakes, misinformation. So this can certainly harm our clients. So we have to be prepared to have those conversations and supports and interventions in practice. But I think also there's a huge opportunity, if we're working with clients who need support with workforce readiness and job readiness, that these tools can help them support writing their resumes or writing cover letters, or, if you want to use it as a tool alongside your clinical practice that you can. There's therapeutic chatbots out there, so there's a wide range of this. Technology can be served for good, but we also have to know what this can be also like not for good, and tech for bad also.
Speaker 1:So we have to also raising those concerns.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think it goes back to even the house, like how social media is, is a platform. It's not good or bad. Inherently, it is just a resource and a tool that you can use how you choose to. And then I think we've talked about before of training, trying to train your algorithms for positive versus negative that you'd be surprised how quickly your algorithms can shift. You know, and that's AI. So you've got to, once again, you have to go with the flow, learn how to, how to manifest these things and how to also, you know, take things sometimes with a grain of salt because you know, as we've probably both observed, not all AI is is great outputs, but you know it's, it's always learning, it's always growing, so, but yeah, so I'm curious from the school side of things. Have you gotten any feedback from the student side, like, what are they thinking about AI and using it for school? Do they feel like it's cheating? Is it cheating Like you know what? What are what are some of the students saying about AI and stuff?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, another, you know another realistic sort of conversation we have to grapple with as as educators and also preparing our social workers in the field. So I'm getting a wide range to some where they're saying you know, we're not talking about this enough in our classes and we need to be talking about this more, to like, if we're going to be social professionals in the field and this is going to be part of our work in the field, shouldn't we be talking about this more, getting more trainings in the classroom? To some students saying you know, like I know students are using it and they're writing their papers with it. I think that's wrong, like I don't want to be caught plagiarizing and what does that sort of mean.
Speaker 2:And so I know, in the conversation that I've led in the classroom with my students is, you know, my perspective is as a field, we have to support you with workforce readiness. Right, we have to have these conversations about what are the different tools out there, how can they be supporting your every day job, to ask, how are they impacting your, your clients? And really thinking about ethical use to like, as a student, what is ethical? How can you use AI to support you in your assignments? What are the red lines of considered plagiarism? What is permissible use? And this also now goes back to just a larger conversation, just outside the students but really in the hands of school administration, course coordinators, like our curriculums sort of have to be overhauled. Now we're going to really meaningfully introduce this technology into our curriculums and I think it's definitely, definitely. I think students are curious. Students are using it, some of them not telling their professors how they're using it. Right, so they are, but I'm from the mindset of let's use it, let's reimagine our assignments to include this technology.
Speaker 2:So you really support with workforce readiness and I think this is a great opportunity to pivot, like you said, and be of the times and be adaptive this time yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's. That's interesting because you know I don't really engage with too much, I guess, youth at this point. So I'm just yeah, I was just genuinely curious how it's being, how that generation is kind of using it, perceiving it like because, I mean, there is a social side of this whole AI stuff.
Speaker 1:You know Like people are forming attachments to their chatbots and you know we, you know sadly had cases of people you know that young person that you know got really, really attached to their AI. So that is something that you know I didn't think we would have to be considering, you know, like this whole concept of that, but I mean some people might be more susceptible to forming these types of relationships with their, their chatbots.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I'm so glad you brought that up Because, again, as we think, from the practitioner lens of our social workers, we work in communities with, you know, vulnerable youth, youth that have different diversity and neurodiverse, you know needs, you know, maybe these chatbots might be an access, an opportunity to engage in social experiences, but then, on the flip side, like you said, it could really lead to a dark place or a place of even more isolation more depression.
Speaker 2:We did hear of that case of a youth that did die by suicide because of the chatbot. I think it's also opening up more doors for, say, legislation and compliance because character AI that chatbot. I think it's also opening up more doors for, say, legislation and compliance. You know, because character ai that chatbot, you could be as young as 13 getting access to the platform.
Speaker 2:So now we just start thinking about if we want to as a society. Do you want to put sort of safeguards you know in place to, you know, ensure that our vulnerable, most vulnerable, especially children, right? That should their access be and how, like when, the limit should be? We know that the adolescent brain is certainly vulnerable and malleable, right? And we know that they're also more impulsive, right? This is all these things that are kind of swirling, and I think there's also more opportunity to do more research and I think it's really, really, really critical.
Speaker 2:We know legislation and government compliance takes time and it's not moving fast enough. So I know, as part of the advocacy of parents that have kind of been talking about, you know, pushing for, you know, increasing the age limit of, say, a platform like Character AI, and I know, recently, australia is, you know, banning, you know, social media use for 16 and under.
Speaker 2:So I think yeah, so I think this is going to be, you know, banning, you know, social media use for 16 and under. So I think, yeah. So I think this is going to be, you know, catching on as it should, and that's also part of my trainings as well, to talk about other social workers, about this, because if it, if it's not coming up in your practice, it's going to be if you're working, yeah it's coming.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely yeah, that's. That's really interesting. And in comparison to social media, there is that new push for okay, maybe we need to monitor or limit or restrict it for young people and young minds that we should do the same thing for AI. But it's also the Wild West right now, so there's still so much unknowns and so much it's happening so fast that we can't even almost keep up with it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think the place that I stand for it is. I think legislation and having safeguards in place are important and at the same time, I think our future world, for our young people, is going to be a world with artificial intelligence. It will be a world with having this technology to help you do your jobs and everyday life tasks. So I think completely eliminating it in some capacity, I think isn't also doing it justice either to really teach our young people responsibly using AI.
Speaker 2:And, like you said, it's a wild west right now. This is so new that us educators aren't even fully aware or educated on these tools, and yet we're also responsible for teaching this next generation. So it's just going to take time, it's going to take research, it's going to take advocacy, it's going to take a village, really, you know, to get to a place where we have the compliance, legality, the education, the tools all lined up to really have an ethical. You know tech for good, you know space for our society.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good. That's good stuff mentioned research and I wanted to highlight or at least you know um acknowledge that you recently got approved for some research right in in this realm, so tell us a little bit about that yeah, so super excited.
Speaker 2:A couple of my colleagues uh, we have, you know, submitted for an IRB. It's now approved and we are really interested in AI and school social work practice. As I mentioned, I'm really you know, that's my area of social work that I've been working in. It's also an area have we've been talking about with youth and education in schools. I think there's just a huge need for school social work practitioners to understand, you know, this technology and so we're really looking forward in our research to get a better understanding of how school social workers are using this in the field. What are the gaps, what are the training needs? We really want to investigate. You know what's going on in the field, so I'm really excited to be embarking on that in the new year.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, yeah, and so for those who don't know, you know what an IRB is. Can you kind of give a little bit of backstory of how that process plays out for research?
Speaker 2:Yes. So, as we know, we need to have ethics in place because unfortunately in human history we've seen lots of abuses and marginalized communities being completely taken advantage of by for the sake of research and science. So IRBs the institutional review boards is really a safeguard in place that we ensure that all research is done ethically and humanely, and it is a process as it should be right. We should just be, you know, not taking you know research seriously. It should be a whole process where there's a whole committee that reviews it and you get approval through that way, through the institutional review board. Sometimes it could take time, edits and revision, but it's really just part of upholding our ethics and values in scientific research.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just wanted to highlight that because I think a lot of people underestimate what it really takes to, for one, just get approved for research and then to actually go through it and do it, and then there's just the whole iterations in the process and you know, like that's why, you know, I think people should take research more seriously or understand those elements of that, because there's a lot that goes into it. You know, it's not just some like two week project, you know, this is like possibly years in the making. You know.
Speaker 2:Yes, no, and that's a great point too, and I think part of that is you know, the is the ethics and the safeguarding.
Speaker 1:it shouldn't be an easy, easy process and at the same time, we do want it to make it accessible, so people can get their research, you know approved and out there. But it really needed for sure, yes, yeah, um, so what? Uh? I guess in general you have like a, a basic premise for the. You know like the abstract already kind of figured out. Are you still working on that?
Speaker 2:yeah, no, I think we're still. It's still definitely in in process. Uh, we, we definitely are interested, though, in understanding how school social workers are using this technology in their respective roles.
Speaker 1:And again.
Speaker 2:I think it's just an opportunity to then say, ok, this is what's actually happened in the field, because I think we're also professionals, social workers, we want to do something. It's not just say, oh, we have this research, now it's like let's make recommendations of what we need to do next. Now it's like let's make recommendations of what we need to do next, and I would imagine a big part of that it's going to be around, you know, training, around compliance, like what kind of sort of needs we need as a profession to really ensure that we're using it safely and responsibly. So I'm excited. I know these things take time, right, that was one of the things that I realized in my doctoral studies. I'm like, oh, it takes a long time to get published and submitted. An article like this is this is going to take. So I know we're in the very, very beginning stages now, but probably get back to me in a year. We'll probably have a little bit more done, but hopefully we submitted by that point to a journal, but that's been one of the, I think, one of the eye opening experiencesening experiences being in for the research side how long this process takes right
Speaker 1:yeah, so but that's cool. I mean like you're, you know you're you're branded as the ai social worker, but you're actually doing the legwork you're doing. You know, you've been at the forefront of this. I feel like you know and you know you're're going to I think you're going to have the mantle of a social worker for a while.
Speaker 1:So I think that's really cool and you know, just, I'm just along for the ride with you at this point, like I'm, I'm enjoying it, I'm learning, I'm also growing and developing and trying to, you know, use it for for my own good, yeah, and I, and I appreciate you, you know say because for my own good, yeah, and I appreciate you, you know saying because I wanted it's the same thing for me too, like this journey that I started in January.
Speaker 2:So this has been. You know, I started with AI prior to that. It's been about a year and a half that I've been submerged in this AI world, but it really I launched the brand, the blog, in the first week of January 2024. Now we're into mid-December and it's been such a journey and just since I launched, just like you said, I'm learning alongside of all of us in the field. New things are happening, new platforms, new tech. So even since the last time we spoke, I've been also diving into more of tools that are out there. I came across a tool called Bastion GBT, and you know us as social workers are so, and rightfully so we were really concerned about data privacy and HIPAA, and this is actually a HIPAA compliant tool that uses chat GBT technology and I was like this is awesome, right? I was like this is awesome, right?
Speaker 2:So for those social workers out there that you know that you're interested in using these tools, or you are using these tools and you really want that extra safeguard, in place.
Speaker 2:Fastion GBT might be a great option for you. It's not free, you know. I do want to acknowledge that it's not free but it's, you know, $20 a month. There's a free trial that you could check out the tool, but again, I think it just kind of adds an extra layer of HIPAA compliance security that I think a lot of social workers, you know, appreciate. Some other tools that I've been, you know, looking more into doing some collaborations with and research on my own, you know, on my own is Umor. That's a platform that uses AI technology to create CBT worksheets for clients and homework assignments.
Speaker 1:So that's been that's a good one. I like that. I'm going to make it for sure yes.
Speaker 2:We should be having a webinar next week on Monday, so I'll definitely send that along to you, joey, and to your listeners too, if they want to check out that webinar next week.
Speaker 1:That I'll be doing.
Speaker 2:Another one is Uphill, and Uphill is another AI tool for mental health practitioners, not just social workers, but it's a tool where you can record your you know therapy sessions. It will transcribe for you. It also has those data protections of you know security and HIPAA compliance. And another cool thing about the tool also is that it analyzes your clinical sessions data so you can get trends on the client's mood, different words that they sort of shared in your session, and it's just another way to start really deeply thinking about your clinical work that you're that you're doing and you know, create more interventions from there, or you know kind of notice the trends so you can offer different you know interventions or insights. So I just think what a great way to get more objective sort of analytics from your sessions.
Speaker 2:Because, you know, humans we make errors, we have biases. But if you have a tool like AI, who's recording the session and collecting some of this data, you might get interesting sort of viewpoints that maybe you've not considered before.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Interesting stuff, right, yeah, that is with these businesses. Like you have private practice. You've got big organizations like how difficult is it for a company to, or an organization to, just to try out one of these AI tools? You know, because I feel like tools are out there now but maybe businesses, organizations are kind of timid about trying it out.
Speaker 2:Maybe no, and I think you bring up a really good, a really good point. I know one of my students at the, you know, the university had shared like, oh, like my agency has, you know, paid for this like tool that we have access to but honestly, it's so far few in between that. I'm hearing agencies, you know, purchase and again, I think a part of it is it's new. It's not, you know, it's a new training. You know, anytime new technology it's a new training. Anytime new technology is in a new organization, it can create a lot of concern discourse. I can kind of see the hesitancy, but I always go back to your point, joey we have to be adaptive with the times. This can make your employees feel less burnout burden, especially on the administrative pieces you know, feel less burnout burden, especially with administrative.
Speaker 2:you know pieces, I know I worked in outpatient mental health when I started as a social worker back in 2011. And my caseload was, you know, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41 clients. Right, I was seeing I was scheduling 11 clients a day. Sometimes, in my practice, we would have weekly conversations and supervision about my productivity. Productivity was also something I talked about at the agency, because and then, on top of productivity, not only how many clients are you scheduling that you're seeing, but you have to get your notes in on time.
Speaker 2:So that's like a 40 hour turnaround 24 hour turnaround and that's like a recipe for burnout right Like it's too hard to sustain.
Speaker 2:So what an opportunity if we could incorporate some of these tools with you know, client consent, because that's you know, we can you know this could be a real opportunity to support the caseload and workload when I know so many of my colleagues in outpatient mental health you know are struggling and I think this would be one solution. I'm not saying the only solution is some of the burden, but I do know there are clinicians in private practice who are using it because you don't have to go through the agency, right your own entity, but they're finding a lot of positive use. I did a training, I want to say, last month for mental health clinician practitioners and they were walking me through like how they had the consent conversation with their clients. And yes, there've been a few that have, you know, some concerns, but majority were open to this process.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, if anything, it's the modern equivalent of having your video, your sessions, videotapes of for training and whatnot. You know, um, some people will agree to that, you know, as long as they know that it's confidential, then it's not going to get disseminated. Um, but yeah, I think, I mean just, I'm just thinking about the amount of hours, man hours saved. Uh, not having to write out all those, those case notes and I think people, especially people, practitioners, know that you said it also leads to burnout, it's stressful, it's time sensitive.
Speaker 1:And you know, not saying that we use AI to do all that work, like you said, but it's an efficient, a much more efficient way of basically just analyzing data, and then you can basically add and subtract as you see fit.
Speaker 1:And and and I mean I just I don't know, I just feel like that's, that's a potential game changer in the in the industry, because think about how much more or how much, how much of backlog that would clear up, you know. Uh, conditions would be less stressed. They would also have more time and maybe they could decompress more. They have more time to decompress and and uh you know, I just I don't know.
Speaker 1:I guess my mind is swirling with all these possibilities, but it's going to come down to, once again, people consenting to it.
Speaker 1:But I think if you, if you were able to, yeah, if they were able to explain it in a way that they see the benefit. Because I think the other thing that that could be incorporated and we I think we've talked about it before is like having the case notes basically shared between client and and practitioner. So that way, if you have homework you know and I've been guilty of that too you know, therapy, homework is great in session, but as soon as you leave that door, it kind of goes. It goes to the wayside a little bit, you know.
Speaker 2:So yeah.
Speaker 1:I think that would be really helpful for both client and practitioner.
Speaker 2:I absolutely agree. I think again, the opportunity is just the willingness to be open, the willingness to pivot and this willingness to also have these important conversations and training. And you know the other thing in speaking to you know other mental practitioners who are using these tools. You know you still have to review the note. You still have to make sure it says everything that you are intending that you'd like the note to write or to say. You may want to make sure it's confidential. There's no information that you want the, you know the insurance company to know. But what a time-saving you know tool. And you know if you're I know, I've, I've been a supervisor, I know from a management point of view, it's so easy to get just so in a snowball with needing to get all these notes completed and I just think what an opportunity to support, even from the business sort of management side, that if you have a tool that could really help you know your employees.
Speaker 2:Something to consider and think about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely so. If any of you private practitioners you know, if you use this already. I think there's quite a few tools out there that are HIPAA compliant and, like you said, practitioners are using it. So, yeah, like you know, let us know how it's working for you, give us some feedback and, you know, maybe we can convince other people to do the same or maybe they'll convince them not to. But I feel like, yeah, at least something that we could, you know, learn from other practitioners, from other social workers who might be using it in the field. But, and then, speaking of using, do a nice little recap and, you know, basically created a whole outline for things that we could talk about and I was just like that was.
Speaker 1:That took all of a few seconds. Well, not, it did take a little bit of time, but I mean just the amount of time that saved me. And energy, mental energy, I think, is really one of those things that people can, I think, if they can quantify that a? Little bit more.
Speaker 1:They might be more on board with using AI for their own personal needs and I think it's starting to break into the discussion, the you know, I guess the culture of sorts you know know like it is starting to become more mainstream. People are talking more about their chat, gpt and things like that you know yes, yeah it's really interesting um, even the NASW they had a call for, you know, conference proposals.
Speaker 2:Ai is one of the the topics so I know they're looking for proposals out there. So I know I definitely put my proposal in. But I definitely call other other social workers in the field to yeah to really, you know, showcase this technology and really engage in, you know, important conversations around it too and and I really do think there needs to be, if there isn't already.
Speaker 1:I mean, I guess. I mean I guess there probably are, but like actual tech companies that don't necessarily know what it is to be a social worker. So if any of these tech billionaires want to hire us as consultants, that would be great. I would not turn that down. I have a very modest fee and you know very reasonable.
Speaker 2:So plug, you know we got to put it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Got to manifest that you know.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I love that and I absolutely agree. I mean, just starting from tech design, I think the social work perspective is so needed. Perspective is so needed and, I think, such a valuable component because we may not have the same tech expertise as the coders, the engineers, the tech, the IT or the business side or the branding, but we have the ethics and the human side of understanding and even just sort of that whole ecological sort of system and personal environment framework that we know and also our social justice lens, our ethics lens. I think we bring so much of that into this discourse and conversation that these are things that these tech companies are not really thinking about and I think that's an opportunity for our field to really be at the forefront of this work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, definitely. And in thinking about other social workers in the field that are interested or advocating for AI, I did actually try to get Ernesto Bejarano, the AI social work mentor.
Speaker 1:I just give a shout out to him. I was kind of last minute but I asked him to jump on the stream but he couldn't. He had obligations minute. But I asked him to jump on the stream but he couldn't. He had obligations. But I definitely want to pick his brain Cause I know he's. He's been doing a lot of really cool stuff. He's got the social work AI mentor. I'll put a link. I'll put a link that in the in the show notes. But yeah, I mean there there are people, there are social workers that are that are doing really interesting things in the field. I just wanted to give a shout out to Ernesto Hope to have him on the show someday.
Speaker 1:So thank you for that and, you know, do you have any other colleagues that are doing anything similar or interesting in the field of AI?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no. So I mean I just want to definitely also put in a plug for Ernesto's you know tool. Anytime I do trainings, anytime I speak to my students, I'm always saying, hey, there's actually another social worker in the field who is doing this work. Right, it's not some tech company.
Speaker 2:It's one of us and I think that's super, super exciting and I know his tools, like in a number of countries around the world. I mean that's so exciting and I definitely want to give him a lot of props and shout outs for the incredible, you know work that that he's doing. I know there's also a social worker at uphill who that's like they're an integral part of of the tool at uphill and the name's escaping, but it's going to come to me and I will definitely email it to you after um to make sure, and I know we'll be both presenting separate topics but also at a joint at a conference in the spring. So I'm like that's super exciting that there's even just another, you know social worker in the realm of these tech tools and bringing our perspective into the role and, you know, into into the work as well too. I know there's, you know, researchers out there that are really passionate and you know doing some great work with with AI and certainly want to uplift Dr Melanie Sage, who's been doing research in AI.
Speaker 2:Dr Desmond Patton, who's also been doing years before even AI and chat to BT. Also Johanna Creswell-Bias, who also spoke at our NASW conference. She led a moderating panel on AI and social work. So I mean, I know there's a number of social workers out there who are doing this work and I know we're going to be getting more people into this field and into this intersection because it will be growing. And I've already had even a doctoral student say like I'm really interested in AI and social work practice students. So I think this is going to be more of a wave where there's gonna be more, more of us coming down that pipeline.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I think the last time we did talk about forming some kind of Avengers style um mashup or or even like a collective or something, obviously that kind of fell to the wayside. We got busy with everything else that we're doing and working on, but I do think we're in the early stages of either creating our own tech company for AI, social work, or we're in the beginning stages of just creating our own community.
Speaker 2:Yes, definitely, definitely, because, again, I think there's such power in sharing resources, sharing ideas, sharing best practices, you know, sharing articles that are being published or blogs or things, or you know, or even just hearing how other like I think about you know school districts, how they're implementing AI for their school social workers or other agencies like how agencies are, you know, bringing in this technology. So what a place to have like a platform to share that knowledge. Be in community, you know, share the struggle and the challenges or the concerns. I think that's a great thing to do. So it's always been on my mind. Let's manifest that for 2025. Let's do it there. You go.
Speaker 1:I like it, start off with a charge, you know, and I mean, then again you're gonna. It sounds like you're probably gonna have a big 2025 coming up. So maybe we need to do this in stages and, like I don't know, come up with a, you know, a smart game plan. But yeah definitely 2025. It's gonna. It's gonna be happening for sure.
Speaker 2:It could be as simple as like a Slack, or it could be as simple as a Facebook group group, it could be as simple as even just a Google, you know listserv. I think there's different ways that we can engage in community. I think it's just you know, like I said, making it, you know, making it happen and manifesting it to do the next steps in logistics. I'm game, I'm ready.
Speaker 1:All right, Well, anyone in the FIRE social worker community and the AI social worker communities. If you guys are interested in something like that, then you know, let us know, I'm definitely open you know, email me, dm me, whatever, shoot a comment on the stream, yeah, and then we'll figure something out.
Speaker 1:Because you know, like I said, this is the future and you know, I think we're just. We're just in that, in that mindset, where we're willing to step in maybe a little bit more boldly than other people might, but at the same time, like we've said, it's not going away and I think getting ahead of the curve just makes more sense to me. That's just how I view it. But there also is genuinely useful things that could come from AI and probably already has. So I'm also trying to have that eternal optimist kind of perspective that, okay, we can use this for genuine good. So that's the other thing that I'm passionate about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I'm so with you and I guess you know. I know we kind of talked about how I've been using AI since our last session, but I wanted to ask you how are you using AI since our last session?
Speaker 1:Because you use it in a couple ways too right.
Speaker 2:So I know I use it in some ways, but it's always great to be in community and learning from each other.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, yeah, so I've had a lot of different things that I've been messing around with, but you know I did. I did create a chat bot basically for financial counseling. So basically my vision was a lot of the initial onboarding about financial counseling is kind of tedious. You're getting information and then you're, you know, having to compile, just like any intake, you know. So I was just thinking if, if, if, there's a way to create an smoother onboarding process for financial counseling and using a chat bot to basically not just ask questions like the data, because it could. It could do the data collection and compile it into something. Really, and I've tested it. It works.
Speaker 1:But then I'm also incorporating the financial social work principles and mindset into the chat bot, you know. So I've been feeding it financial social work and financial trauma and things like that. So I'm building, yeah, I've been building that, playing with that for a while. I also have been. Well, you know, it's just one of those things where it's like I I see a problem, cause I was, I was having that problem with, you know, taking on clients and then trying to do all that and I was like there's gotta be a better way, you know. So I just messaged around with chat GPT and created my own custom, custom GPT, and I'm still working on it, so it's not it's not long, but it's going to be much.
Speaker 2:I love that Such an innovative way and just thinking about how to really meet your consumers and clients right With being able to get that information, but also that you could also then use that information too, but it's also just an easier way for you to gather it also, so it's like time saving for you I love it.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, really really cool yeah thank you um and so that's one thing that I've been working on off and on. And then, um, I just recently published I don't know like we've talked about it before a little bit, but like almost like a weekly thing, or I don't know, however, however long it's going to take, but basically have have a story, um, a comic book type of story. Uh, and this is purely just for fun. This is nothing anything you know crazy, just something like a creative outlet that I just had to scratch. Um, and it's going to be the. It's going to be called the social worker, at least for now, and it's basically a premise is a social worker who basically gets superpowers and then is fighting bad guys with, with empathy and with compassion and, you know, instead of you know, hurting people, trying to actually cure and fix people with their superpower.
Speaker 2:So um and again. So, so creative right, and I think again. I think it just kind of speaks to how much does it open up the door for creativity when you have access to tools like these? I'm an assumption, I don't know if you are like a graphic artist, you could do this artwork by hand. But think about now you don't even need to. You have access to.
Speaker 1:I know, and yeah, it's not perfect, but, like you know, I just generated a cover, a cover page or a graphic, you know cover art, and I was like that's amazing, like I just would have never. I don't have that ability, but in the and I know people do, but I mean for it to just come out of you know, all the prompts and all the information that I fed it.
Speaker 1:And it was just like it was, like it went from my, my brain to the page, you know. And so, yeah, it's just been really cool experimenting with that from a creative side. But I mean, yeah, it's still ultimately, I use it a lot as kind of a personal assistant.
Speaker 1:You know brainstorming. I've actually been going through a little bit of my chat GPT history and I realized that, yeah, I talked to my chat GPT quite a bit, even more so than previously. But know, I'm also um, you know it's because it's so integrated into you know, it has a lot of my backstory now and like my, you know, even I had to do and this would be interesting prompt if, if you're interested, but I had to actually do like a year in review for me and it took all the memories that it had and then it compiled, like you know, granted it wasn't a full year, but you know it was like, um, kind of a month, my month by month recap of the projects that I started and, you know, things that I've been working on. So I mean, I don't know, it's just kind of a cool like a year in review kind of thing yes, no, I love that.
Speaker 2:please like definitely share that prompt, but I will, you know, I would love to do that even just my own work and how I've been using chat to be T for the year, and it's interesting because even not too long ago I had a colleague of mine who's in the clinical field share this like really interesting prompt and I'll also send that to you too, really interesting prompt, and also send that to you too. How, uh, chat to d can analyze you on like a deeper level, kind of say things about you that you haven't necessarily shared it with it but it can. Why?
Speaker 1:I think I've heard of that prompt, yeah I'm blowing.
Speaker 2:I was like whoa, this is kind of really interesting. You know what this shares about about you and you know it was interesting because it kind of brought up some of my, you know, work-, work-life balance needs and that you know I'm working a lot all these things. I'm like how does it know? I'm like you're helping me do my job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's crazy, it's crazy it is.
Speaker 2:But you know, it's just, it's super interesting and, like you said, as a personal assistant, I know just. Even you know, a few weeks ago my siblings and I we got together, um, my brother really enjoys baking and we enjoy like cooking. So we asked chat to be tea, to create like an olive oil chocolate cake recipe, and we try it so good Like they're just it too.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So and I know my brother just moved to a new house he was asking me questions on like design or what kind of like a table size you should get to maximize the room. I mean, there's just so many things that I didn't even think about how you could use it in your everyday life to really, you know, ask it questions and it and it shall give you an answer. Right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I actually used it a couple of weeks ago or about a month ago and just kind of on a whim. But I was reading stories with my son and I was like let's see what ChatGPT can come up with. And I just gave it a prompt. I said, you know, to create a story, a fun story for my four-year-old son.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that was. It was a very basic prompt and I was like, oh, this is going to be really crazy. But, it actually told. Like, as I was reading the story I was like this is actually kind of a good, interesting, fun story for a kid, you know.
Speaker 1:I mean it was kind of, it was just crazy, so little things like that that I just never would have imagined using an AI for. And yeah, it's I mean like you can search Google. I mean I think, yeah, chatgpt is just kind of taking the place of Google in a lot of ways for more nuanced, yeah, like analysis, maybe, like instead of just, like you know, searching for a topic you put it in your chat, gpt, and it'll, it'll tell you a lot, you know it's been really helpful for me just to kind of learn new things or just flesh out some details that you know I didn't initially think about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, absolutely Great, I know now. I believe it's. I don't know if it's yet on the free version, so I should definitely, you know, double check that too. But I know chat GPT is now giving you the sources where this information has.
Speaker 1:Has come from, so just like complexity.
Speaker 2:That will give you the link I know on the app on my phone you can click on, where the source of information, where it came from and I'm like this is this is now. I think you know I was getting some concerns and I know I've gotten this question in trainings, like where is this information coming from?
Speaker 1:Like how do I know what it knows? I'm like, no, that's a really good critical question to ask yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so I think it's. You know, I know perplexity has been doing that for some time now where you could ask questions, and perplexity will give you exactly the sources, the website where the information is coming from. And I think it also pushes for transparency, but I think also for us as a consumer and information. We know where to actually get the source of that information from, so we can continue our research and cross-check and reference. So you know, I think these technologies are going to just get better over time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's actually a good point because, um, I've been hearing things about like, uh, chat gpt could be also spreading misinformation or disinformation without it actually quote, unquote, knowing you know it's just pulling data from the internet or from its archives or whatever, and since it's human generated input, and humans are flawed.
Speaker 1:there's going to be some flawed information in ChatGPT, so that's one of those things where you just got to take it, sometimes with a grain of salt but, like you're saying, they're trying to get it to where it's like has some validity. You know, like Wikipedia. You know Wikipedia is user generated, but they have they have the facts, they have you know the. They have the facts, they have the proof and the references, so that adds an air of validity to it.
Speaker 2:Yep Agreed.
Speaker 1:I like that they're doing that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. No, it's definitely some important work and, as you mentioned, this technology is going to continue to advance, continue to come out with new features and I'm sure the next time we chat hopefully not in a few months, but I'm sure that comes up next time that we chat too right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Always growing and changing and I think it kind of goes back to that community piece that if we are in community in a learning space, that we continue to share these you know with each other, be most up to date with the most you know relevant things. I know I'm trying to post you know as much as I can on LinkedIn. I you know I know the term this semester sometimes got the best of me right trying to get everything done.
Speaker 2:But you know, I definitely you know, I really feel a sense of you know, importance to really share, share free resources, share the most up-to-date knowledge with each other, because it's only just going to better advance our work in our field.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, and I think there's some genuine concern that people you know there are jobs being taken away right this second from AI and these chatbots and things like that.
Speaker 1:But you know, it's kind of one of those things, too, where these things will change, like it'll, it's going to evolve, just like when you know the horse and buggy, you know you had the automobile come along, you had people that were like I like my horse and buggy, you know, but then, like this new thing is, is it even better? You know, like objectively better. But there's that, that awkward transition period where you know, basically, we're like some people are, are on board early, early adopters, other people are kind of in the middle, and then other people are just completely oblivious and they want to keep it that way. You know, um, and I think, uh, that's just going to be. It's going to make things more challenging for them because, they're just going to.
Speaker 1:You know it's going to, it's coming to be, it's going to make things more challenging for them, because they're just going to. You know it's going to, it's coming, you know it's here. So it's just one of those things you got to, I think you know, as we've said, just be more proactive about it and try to learn it. You know not, not, not, just yeah, not just put your head in the sand and really just try to learn it, use it for good and see what it? Can do, you'd be surprised.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I'm. I'm glad you brought up, you know, the concern around the loss loss of jobs, I think, also the. I think the flip side of that too is I think there will also be new, new jobs that will be created because of this technology too. I think it's, it's definitely going to have an impact on the, on the workforce and like, interestingly enough, you know, I was doing some research, I did a presentation on this, you know, a couple weeks ago at at a CUNY is. You know, there's a real gap right now. There's a gap that employers want to hire employees that have skills and understanding and skills to end up being able to use AI, and yet there's a gap in the skills where our universities students are saying they're, they're graduating with I don't think I even have the skills, or we didn't learn about this, and there's a real gap. And I think that really kind of speaks to the urgent need, how this is really is going to shift the workforce, but even for social work practice.
Speaker 2:I think we're a profession where, yes, I think there's aspects of our job that can be done with AI, like administrative tasks.
Speaker 2:Right, Like the recording of our sessions and creating, you know, progress notes. But can a chatbot, you know, really replace the art and the connection that we have in therapy, right? So there's been research out for a couple of years now where they've been using these chatbot tools and and therapeutic chatbots like Wiza, and there's been a couple of others, wobot, where you know research has shown. You know again, I think their overall sort of message is it can't replace therapy, it can be used in conjunction and tandem therapy. It can be used in conjunction, in tandem. There's opportunity for accessibility so that if you are on a waiting list or you have no other, you know options accessible right now.
Speaker 2:That it could be like a temporary sort of support. I even think again because of the human connection aspect, the training, the you know, the connection that comes from, the power of, because we know the research shows that the most defining sort of component of the therapeutic work is not what technique I've used, it's really the relationship that we have, I don't think the chatbot could truly replace that but, it's opportunities for to use in tandem, and that's sort of what the research is showing too, but there's still going to be much more research.
Speaker 2:I know you come from the world of veterans. I think you're a former veteran yourself. The VA is also in contract and research right now, creating an AI tool called I think it's called Battle Buddy, where they're still doing research on it, but it's a way to gain again, to speak to a chatbot, to gain resources.
Speaker 2:They're going to algorithms, kind of pick up concerns on suicidality to give additional support. So I think it's just their way of concerns on suicidality, to give additional support. So I think it's just their way of, as you know, a historically marginalized community, community resources. This might be a way to I think about just the entry point of what a chatbot can do, because if it, can give you an entry point into feeling more comfortable for asking for help, for getting services.
Speaker 2:Could that also lead for you to have a connection with a social worker or other mental health?
Speaker 1:person, right, right, yeah. And, like we've said before too, the way these chatbots are trained is very important. So, like you can I mean AIs and you know these language learning models. You know, depending on how well they're trained, they can be very, very accurate and very, very like. Basically, like you know, like was it Watson, the AI that beat Jeopardy? Basically, you know, like they've been incorporating Watson from what I was following up on a little bit, and they actually have you've been using it in the medical field too.
Speaker 2:I was just going to say, yeah, it's taken the medical license exam and passed like, and it's done really well yeah.
Speaker 1:And it's able to detect, like cancer, like at a higher, more effective rate than humans. And you know, it's just one of those things where, yes, we have to kind of like accept that there might be something wrong or whatever. But, like you know, if the, if the statistics say that it has like a 90 success rate versus like a human has a 60, like that to me is it says, okay, that we need to look at this. You know, um, and maybe it could be human um, or ai assisted human. You know, that's basically what we're doing here, where it's ai assisted um, like decision making or writing or creation. So I think, yeah, it's one of those things that it's going to be like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we just have to use it for good, train it for good, train it properly and ethically, like we've said before too, and, you know, just try to try to keep it reined in, you know, and not let it, you know, exterminate us all, as everyone wants to think that that's going to happen, but I think, if it hasn't happened yet, I don't think it's going to happen. But, you know, hopefully, since we've been so nice to the artificial intelligence, that we will be saved in the, in the future, robot apocalypse. But that's another story altogether, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, we've got, I think we've pretty much covered a good amount of stuff. You know, like, honestly, from from the chat GPT created outline, we've covered a lot. You know one thing that that we didn't touch on a little bit and we could talk briefly about it. You know, um, I think, uh, one thing that that we didn't touch on a little bit and we could talk briefly about it. But, uh, you know, international, the international um AI conversation. You know, like you're, you do have international ties, right, are you? Are you engaging with any other countries with this stuff?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, great. Um, you know, great great question. So, yes, actually, um, our neighbor to the north canada, so, um, I'm actually like sidebar. I'm also a dual citizen of canada as well. So I did my undergrad in in at the university of western ontario and I've been I'm actually currently in in in ontario right now. Oh, nice, my parents live Nice and so really I'm super excited. But in April I've been invited to speak on a symposium, a national symposium for Canadian social work in Montreal and to really engage in this same topic of AI and social work. So I'm really excited to be in community here with my, you know, fellow Canadians. So I'll be presenting in April and so I know that's kind of been at least one of the lenses of the work that I've done on an international scale, but I hope to do more, you know.
Speaker 2:I know this to the neighbor to the north, but to still do more of that engagement with other places you know as well. So that may be another, another goal for 2025.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 2:Maybe to kind of build, build more. It's also really cool looking at the data of my, of my website. It's been really exciting to see just other countries like Japan, ethiopia, india, dubai, like the well, the United Emirates, you know, just seeing other countries around the world that have been checking out my website. So it might lead to other connections you know internationally.
Speaker 2:So if you are, actually out there and want to connect like please, by all means, I would love to you know, chat at university, do a training or just even you know even talk and network too, I think there's a lot more work to be done, even on an international stage. I did connect with a social worker from South Africa who's done some work in writing on AI and social work practice in their country in South Africa too, so I know there are other countries who are engaging in this work, so shout out yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, you know it's one of those things that it's going to be as ubiquitous as social media is now, so other countries are going to have to deal with it their own way.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty sure the UK is going to look at it way differently than we are, and that's fine, you know, like it's going to you make it, you know, appropriate to whatever country nationalities that you have. So, yeah, that's really cool. You know, I'm hoping to hear some more good news about the those connections in the future. So let's see what's our, what's our homework. We we have to create the AI Avengers.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I got some ideas for my next steps. I have a small listserv from my website, but I would love to survey the listserv and see maybe a platform. Maybe we can maybe choose it between Slack doing a Google group or maybe doing Facebook, but if there's another option that you think of, that might be a great platform. We can even ask chat to bt. What's a great platform.
Speaker 1:I think discord could be a good option.
Speaker 1:I've been using that a little bit lately okay, yes but, uh, yeah, we'll have to brainstorm a little bit and, yeah, if you guys have any um, any feedback or suggestions for how can we create the avengers, and if you want to be a part of it, obviously let us know too, because you know, at this point um, the the more, the merrier, the you know the hive mind that we're going to start to build together um is, uh, I think could be a very powerful thing. And one thing that actually a lot of people might not realize is that you can actually share chat gpt, like you could share it with people and collaborate um, and they also have a team. A team feature or team is like 25 bucks a month um, so you can collaborate um. I am curious about this 200 a month chat gpt, uh, pro um that that like, obviously I can't rationalize spending that money.
Speaker 1:Genuinely curious to see um what, what, what is it? What is? What? Do you get benefits from? You know?
Speaker 2:I know, I know it's. It's piqued my curiosity. I don't know if I could financially commit to it right right maybe there might be an opportunity in the near future, but definitely has piqued my interest also.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:What can it do? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Open AI. If you're listening, you know we would definitely support you guys.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Be on the team, whatever manifests that. But yeah, I mean, you know, even, uh, the plus plan has been 20 bucks a month. Honestly, like it's totally worth it to me. Um, I am nervous that they're gonna eventually raise that price, um, for the that tier. But uh, you know, that's just one of those things yeah, we will see and then? And then, what is what do they do with all that? What if? What if it goes belly up, then where does that data go, you know? So that is something to think about too.
Speaker 2:Yes, these are important, important questions and I think it kind of goes back to and I always say, you want to think twice about what you know, data you're putting in and you're asking and you know certainly if you can use it your professional work as a social worker never to put anything identifiable you know as a but if you are again like, if you have the paid version, you can put some privacy settings on it.
Speaker 2:Um, so you're not going into the, your information's not going to the main. You know public data, um, you know, but it's just always going to be really mindful and think about yeah absolutely yeah well, um, let's see if there's anything else that we missed.
Speaker 1:Uh, we got your projects. Oh, um, youtube channel, were you still gonna do or you're still working on that, or is that on the?
Speaker 2:something else I manifested into the universe just did not happen.
Speaker 1:This time it just didn't.
Speaker 2:No, but I will be marketing interns in the spring. So maybe it might be it might be, you know, it's still something. It's always on the back burner that I really like to get that launched. Um, so we'll see.
Speaker 1:We'll see if 2025 that makes it happen oh, but speaking of launches, you are going to be working on another guidebook, is that? Yes, yes so I.
Speaker 2:so I did a, and it's free on my website right now, at theaisocialworkercom, that you can download a free 83-page guidebook for incorporating AI into your social work practice. But my vision for the guidebook 2.0 is not so much micro, meso, macro, but actually taking the 30 most prevalent social work jobs and creating just sort of guides for each of those 30, most prominent professions in our social work field and different prompts and different ways to use it.
Speaker 1:in that retrospect, yeah, we, that's awesome. Yeah, I love that idea and, you know, just also a plug for the field of social work Any anybody listening that might be interested or looking at, if you've got a big heart and you like helping people.
Speaker 1:Social work has so, so many you know flavors. So I just learned about sports. I think it's like sports, social work or something like that. Yeah, yeah, and did you? You had, or somebody was, it was trending on LinkedIn, but it was like, you know, let's create like the alphabet of social work and it had all the different, different types of social worky jobs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, different types of social working jobs.
Speaker 1:And so yeah, just to plug, for you know I'm in right now, you know I've recently transitioned to becoming a therapist which is something that a lot of people don't know you can do as a social worker, but before that I was in the hospital system and you know I'm also on the side doing financial coaching with financial social work. So yeah, there's just so many options. It's almost it can be overwhelming. Honestly, I do remember in grad school when they were like all right, what do you want to do?
Speaker 1:What do you want to specialize in? I was like I don't know. There's so many, so many things you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think that's really what I love about this field so much is. It's how broad our field is, how we could be in so many different areas. And I think, too, as you evolve in your career, just like you shared in your story. You worked in hospitals, you've worked in this sector, you now doing financial planning, you have a business. I think there's just so many ways that you can continue to evolve your career. So I just find it's never boring. It's something that always continues to challenge me, it excites me. I've met so many incredible people and I think also the impact that you could do from doing, you know, work with direct clients, but community work, organization work. It's just been so fulfilling to be in this field and, as you know, I love working with students and I think I really try to impart that wisdom. You know that you're really getting a degree that supports you being able to do social work practice in micro, mezzo and macro and what a degree to have which is very unique and, unlike other professions, so yeah
Speaker 1:yeah, no social work this is absolutely team social work all the way yes, yes um well, let's see. Um, I think, man, we covered, covered so and we're gonna use. Uh, obviously I've been using chat, um ai, and you know, making clips and posting and all like all the stuff that I have to do manually. I just couldn't do it, you know. So, and it's not always perfect.
Speaker 1:You know like sometimes it'll cut, you know, at a weird or a weird spot and cut off a little too early, but overall, like it, it does a really good job for the most part, you know. Yeah, yeah, like I said, it's just, it's a tool, uh, and, and you know you can use it for, um, making your life easier or, you know, just for something for fun.
Speaker 1:So definitely but yeah, so I'll be using some, uh, some tools to kind of cut the footage, get, get some cool little clips going and then you know we'll, we'll push it out into the ether. But but yeah, so any, any last minute ideas, concepts, things that you wanted to to highlight or touch base on, or you know anything like that.
Speaker 2:No, I, you know. I think we again, as always, had great conversation. I just love being in learning committee with you, learning how you're using you know, chat to be team, these tools, and thank you again for having a platform to share and continue to raise awareness and, you know, again, just education around these tools too, so we can use it ethically and responsibly, and I look forward to our next chat, which will hopefully be soon yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:You know, like it's, uh, as I've been doing these podcasts and interviews, I've realized that people are busy these days and it's it's kind of hard to get people on the same page. You know, like for you know, just us, us doing this right now is actually kind of a threading the needle, like I'm surprised we were able to pull this off but, um, but yeah, it's been.
Speaker 1:It's been really fun and engaging and, yeah, I learned something every time, something new, um, so, yeah, just grateful to be here and to have people like you on to um, to have these kinds of conversations, um, and yeah, hopefully we'll. We'll do some more and collaborate, keep, keep collaborating, keep in touch. So follow along with the associalworkercom. Right and fire social workers is for me, yeah, that's. That's pretty much it. It's been a great conversation. Please check out associalworkercom. And expecting to see some really cool things Already seeing cool things, but even more cool things in 2025. So, thank you, dr Badillo-Diaz. I guess that's going to be it for this stream. Thanks for everybody who joined in and watched and will watch later on down the road. So thank you everybody and have a great night yes, take care all right, you too.
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