Columbus is funding AI projects to help social workers
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Columbus is spending millions of dollars on new artificial intelligence to help the city's most vulnerable and the social workers who support them.
Why it matters: The programs are part of a broader regional effort to reduce poverty, though a lead organizer acknowledges that this new technology can only do so much in the face of major systemic problems.
State of play: Smart Columbus, a nonprofit focused on digital equity, is spearheading two city-funded projects meant to streamline the social services sector, executive director Jordan Davis tells us.
- One is a new AI tool to automate social workers' administrative tasks to reduce burnout and keep them focused on clients.
The other is an app that will organize a client's individual case needs and history, similar to OhioHealth's MyChart app for health care.
- A key function would be an AI-enabled search tool that Davis likens to "Expedia but for social programs."
- Case workers would plug in a person's financial and geographic details, then AI would link them to area programs they qualify for, such as utility bill assistance.
Between the lines: This project presumes residents have cell phones, reliable internet access and the tech savviness to navigate a new app.
- Davis thinks most do or can get help from family members and caseworkers.
Yes, but: "This is not a silver bullet solution," she recognizes.
- "This does not at all mask over the systemic issues that we have."
Flashback: The AI projects stem from Franklin County's 2019 "Blueprint for Reducing Poverty," which outlined widespread housing, job and transit problems and racial disparities.
- It featured an anonymous social worker who described feeling overworked and struggling to connect residents with public benefit programs.
Follow the money: The $5 million allocated by Columbus City Council is going to the RISE Together Innovation Institute, which was created to carry out the 2019 blueprint, but it's Smart Columbus leading the development.
- The money will fund a few years of work, but Davis expects more will be needed to complete it.
What they're saying: The social services "ecosystem" has lagged behind the business world when it comes to tech infrastructure, notes Danielle Sydnor, CEO of the institute.
- Projects like this, Sydnor tells us, can help social workers catch up.