Embracing Artificial Intelligence

There's a reason that Teresa and I keep hammering this into everyone at our workshops and in our webinars. Gone are the days of merely imagining a robot in the kitchen cleaning our floors, or having a personal digital assistant making our grocery list. No, we aren't quite to the point of flying chauffeured cars, but we actually aren't far. In 2025, artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept—it's an integral part of our daily lives, both personally and professionally. From streamlining tasks to enhancing creativity, AI's rapid evolution offers unprecedented opportunities. However, with its rise come concerns about privacy and job security.

AI has risen exponentially in the last 10 years.

🚀 The Rapid Rise of AI

Artificial Intelligence, or at least the concept of it, came about in the 1950s, and expanded by the 1970s to actual implementation - albeit in very rudimentary form. In the 70s all the way through the 90s, advancements in AI were very slow and quiet, mostly due to funding issues. By the late 90s, funding expanded and the boom began. Experts did not anticipate AI to grow quite as quickly as it has. In the last decade, AI has made tremendous advances and in the last 2 years, it has far surpassed expectations. It now has perfect IQ, and almost perfect EQ (emotional intelligence). This is mind blowing, considering that experts thought, just a few years ago, that it would take several more decades to get to this point.

The growth is staggering. The global AI market is valued at over $600 billion, with projections to quintuple in the next five years. In 2025, approximately 97 million people are expected to work in the AI sector, and 83% of companies consider AI a top business priority.

Major corporations are heavily investing in AI. Apple plans to invest $500 billion over four years in AI and related technologies, while Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon collectively aim to spend over $300 billion in 2025 alone.

The higher ups at Google are warning that AI is going to advance so rapidly, it could soon (in the next 5 years) surpass the most impressive human intelligence. This is called AGI, or Artificial General Intelligence. The creators of OpenAI put that prediction in just the next 2 years. It's important to note that many more experts in the field put this prediction much farther into the future, closer to the year 2040.

The point here is that AI is not going away. It is going to be a critical part of our lives and ignoring it will not serve us. Here are some of the ways that it can benefit you.

💼 AI Enhancing Professional Life

AI is starting to make a significant impact in the home visiting field, offering new ways to enhance support for families, streamline administrative work, and improve staff well-being.

🧭 1. Personalized Support for Families

AI tools can help tailor services to each family's unique needs. For example:

• Predictive analytics can identify families at higher risk for crisis based on data patterns (e.g., missed appointments, changes in responses).

• AI-powered translation tools allow real-time communication across language barriers, making services more inclusive.

• Virtual assistants or chatbots can provide 24/7 access to parenting tips, scheduling help, or basic health information—supplementing, not replacing, human contact.

🧾 2. Reducing Administrative Burden

Home visitors often face overwhelming documentation requirements. AI can:

• Auto-fill routine parts of case notes based on voice recordings or short prompts.

• Sort and flag important client updates or trends from session notes using natural language processing (NLP).

• Manage calendars, send reminders to clients, and help coordinate services behind the scenes.

All of this allows more time for meaningful connection and less time behind a screen.

🧘 3. Supporting Staff Mental Health

AI is also being explored to support the emotional well-being of home visitors, who often carry secondary trauma. Some uses include:

• Mood-tracking apps that offer insights and self-care tips based on stress levels.

• AI tools that help supervisors spot patterns of burnout or disengagement across teams.

• Virtual peer-support groups powered by AI matching/connecting staff with similar challenges or strengths.

🧠 4. Training and Skill Development

• AI tutors or simulation tools can help staff practice scenarios (e.g., crisis conversations, trauma-informed responses) in safe environments.

• It can offer customized learning paths, adapting training based on what a staff member already knows or needs to work on.

🛑 What It Won’t Replace

AI won’t, and can’t, replace the human connection that is at the heart of home visiting. Empathy, intuition, and relationship-building remain uniquely human skills. Instead, AI frees up more time and energy for those aspects by automating the background noise. In the home visiting industry, and in healthcare in general, AI is already being implemented at many agencies. They are still working through HIPPA concerns, but once that is ironed out, prepare to be inundated with new policies and procedures. It can help you do so many things, from note taking to scheduling to getting ideas for outreach to providing clients with personalized service options - all at the push of a button. The opportunities are endless! 

🏠 AI in Personal Life

AI's influence extends to our personal lives, simplifying daily tasks and offering personalized experiences. AI-powered assistants manage schedules, provide real-time information, and even offer emotional support. In education, AI tutors adapt to individual learning styles, enhancing the learning experience. This can bring major equity into the education system.

Moreover, AI-driven health apps monitor vital signs and provide wellness recommendations, promoting proactive health management.

🧠 The Necessity of Human Oversight

Despite AI's benefits, concerns about privacy and job displacement persist. However, human oversight is crucial in mitigating these risks. Experts advocate for continuous human supervision of AI systems to prevent biases and ensure alignment with human values. There are risks, and to deny that would be ignorant. This is why the need for human oversight is essential. Learning AI now could greatly benefit you in the future when your site needs someone to oversee or teach other staff new processes and systems.

🌟 Embracing AI: A Collaborative Future

AI is a tool that, when used responsibly, can augment human capabilities and drive innovation. By embracing AI and maintaining vigilant oversight, we can harness its potential while safeguarding our values and privacy. Soon, AI will be more than a tool. It will be a new digital species - and no, that isn't science fiction. Once AI develops into AGI, it will be a new species, capable of decision making, emotion, and more cognitive function.

AI will continue to evolve, and our collaboration with it will shape a future where technology and humanity coexist harmoniously. We have a lot of clients that are still on the fence and nervous about their privacy and even its usefulness if they start using it. To be quite frank, your information really isn't private anymore. If you use a smartphone, bank electronically, pay your taxes online, etc., your information is out there. We don't want you to feel overwhelmed by AI, but we also don't want you to be in the dark about it either. It is more beneficial for you to learn as much as you can about it, rather than feel like it is some big, scary entity that is out to get you.

So the real question to ask is: are you going to control AI, or let the fear of it control you?