April 2nd 2025
On 27 March 2025, over 150 participants gathered for the first-ever AI Summit in Social Care, a groundbreaking event bringing together care providers, social care staff, individuals drawing on care and support, tech suppliers, local authorities, academics, national bodies, and regulators. The summit marked a significant step in the responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the adult social care sector.
At the summit, a Call to Action, guidance, and a Pledge for Tech Suppliers were launched, aimed at ensuring that AI, especially generative AI, is developed and used responsibly, ethically, and inclusively within the sector. These calls to action invite all those involved in adult social care to unite in shaping the future of AI, promoting care over innovation and safeguarding the rights, privacy, and dignity of individuals.
A collaboration across sectors
The summit was the culmination of a 12-month collaborative effort co-led by the Institute for Ethics in AI, the Digital Care Hub, and Casson Consulting. Over 50 individuals and organisations contributed to this project, including people with lived experience of care, social care workers, care providers, researchers, local government, and tech suppliers. Together, they explored both the potential opportunities and the risks of AI in adult social care, emphasising the importance of human-centred and ethical approaches.
With AI, particularly generative AI, being adopted rapidly, there is growing concern about the lack of clear guidelines and safeguards to ensure responsible, safe, and effective use. The Oxford Collaboration came together to help bridge this gap, and ensure solutions are co-produced with all stakeholders.
Defining responsible use of generative AI
The group agreed the following definition:
The ‘responsible use of (generative) AI in social care’ means that the use of AI systems in the care or related to the care of people supports and does not undermine, harm or unfairly breach fundamental values of care, including human rights, independence, choice and control, dignity, equality and wellbeing.
Guidance: ‘I’ and ‘We’ statements
The guidance sets out key principles that need to be considered in implementing Generative AI tools in social care. It is presented as a series of I” and “We” statements that describe what good looks like using Generative AI from different stakeholders’ perspectives. They do not necessarily reflect people’s current experience, but we hope that they can inform a better future.
A collective Call to Action
The Call to Action outlines six priority actions that call on governments, regulators, and all stakeholders to collaborate on responsible AI adoption in social care:
- Adopt guidance – Use the developed guidance, setting out key principles and stakeholder perspectives on the ethical use of generative AI in social care.
- Encourage collaboration – Ensure diverse perspectives, including people who draw on care, unpaid carers, and social care workers, are included in decision-making processes.
- Develop regulation – Urge the government to collaborate with regulators on creating AI guidelines and accountability structures.
- Inclusive innovation – Call for the development of a supportive infrastructure for inclusive and human-centred design in care technology.
- Support for new business models – Advocate for government support for emerging business models in care technology.
- Align standards with ethics – Government to ensure National Standards on technology align with legal frameworks and ethical principles.
The Call to Action emphasises that AI in social care must prioritise care, safety, fairness, and inclusion, rather than just efficiency or cost-saving. It must complement human care, not replace it.
Pledge for responsible tech
Alongside the Call to Action, the summit also introduced a Pledge for Tech Suppliers. This pledge provides suppliers with a set of guiding principles focused on co-production, transparency, safety, fairness, data protection, and accountability. By signing the pledge, tech suppliers can demonstrate their commitment to the responsible development of AI tools in social care, aligning their values with the sector’s expectations. Several suppliers have already signed on, with more anticipated to follow.
Government’s commitment
Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Social Care, addressed summit attendees via video, emphasising the potential of AI to improve the care sector while highlighting the importance of ethical innovation. He said,
“This summit is vital – bringing together expertise to ensure AI enhances, rather than replaces, human care. The government is committed to supporting the responsible adoption of AI in public services, and we want to work with you to make this a reality.”
The journey continues
While the launch of the Call to Action and Suppliers’ Pledge is a major milestone, it is just the beginning. AI technology is evolving rapidly, and adult social care must continue to actively shape its development and implementation. A new alliance on the responsible use of AI in social care will be developed. The alliance will focus on practical questions such as evaluating AI tools, ensuring good governance, and supporting the workforce. It will also work to embed the principles outlined in the Call to Action into everyday practice and policy. Stakeholders can opt in to join the alliance when they endorse the Call to Action or the Tech Suppliers’ Pledge.
Further details will be published shortly, in the meantime, sign up to the Digital Care Hub newsletter for updates, or follow #AIinSocialCare on social media.
Katie Thorn, Project Lead at the Digital Care Hub and co-chair of the project’s Steering Committee, said:
“The AI genie is well and truly out of the bottle – our challenge is to manage it to fulfil the wishes and needs of people drawing on care, and not to be overwhelmed by its apparent power. We hope that this collaborative offers a way of working through these challenges and opportunities together and we are incredibly grateful for the enthusiasm, honesty, and openness of everyone involved. We look forward to continuing this work together.”
Get involved
Everyone with an interest in social care and/ or technology is invited to read and endorse the Call to Action, provide a supportive statement. and consider joining the future alliance. Tech suppliers working with AI in the sector are also invited to review and sign the Suppliers’ Pledge.
Links
Find out more about the Oxford Collaboration on Generative AI in Social Care
- Read and endorse the Call to Action
- Read and sign the Tech Suppliers’ Pledge
- Explore the Guidance
- About the collaboration: White Paper – Background, ways of working, plans
Contacts
Press enquiries – Iris Steen – [email protected] 07792 636761
Further details on the project contact [email protected]
Photo: Peter Zein, Advocate for Technology in Communication and Care, and Katie Thorn, Digital Care Hub on stage at the AI in Social Care Summit. Credit: Ian Wallman
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