February 12th 2025
Myth Busting
As artificial intelligence (AI) begins to be used more widely, there is increasing interest in using it as a tool to speed up creating care plans. However, this raises some knotty questions about whether it is appropriate to use AI in this way.
Care plans are highly personalised documents that reflect an individual’s needs (including medical), personal preferences, and safety risks. AI may generate text, but the jury is still out on whether AI can have the professional judgement and sensitivity required to create safe and tailored care plans. Relying on AI risks producing generic or even inaccurate information, as it can and does make mistakes, which could lead to inappropriate care and potential harm.
Our duty to protect personal data
While AI can be useful in some areas, such as administrative tasks, drafting emails or summarising policies, it has to be used carefully. In particular, it is important not to use free versions of AI to process or store sensitive personal data. Always check where AI organisations store and process data and make sure their privacy policies align with your own.
Our obligations to follow data protection regulations haven’t changed. Any AI tool used in a care setting has to comply with UK GDPR and data protection laws and these apply just as strictly to AI as they do to any other system.
Who owns the data?
Staff must also be aware of the risks. Entering the personal details of people receiving care into AI chatbots could result in serious data breaches, as many AI systems process and store data externally and often on servers outside of the UK. Once information has been input, there may be no way to fully erase it – this raises real concerns regarding data security, privacy violations, and non-compliance with UK GDPR.
Treat with caution
Of course, when used correctly, AI can prove to be a helpful tool that can save providers time, better spent delivering care. But it mustn’t be treated as a substitute for professional judgement, personalised care, or regulatory compliance.
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