Using artificial intelligence tools in social work research: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with social work can create promising opportunities for change in professional practice and research. Objectives: The study aimed to identify artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can be used in social work research and the challenges that may face researchers when employing these tools. Methods: The study relied on an integrative literature review, which involves collecting, summarising, critiquing, and analyzing published research to gain an in-depth understanding of the study area. Results: The results showed many promising opportunities for employing AI in social work research, particularly re-garding the use of generative AI-based tools that assist researchers in collecting and summarizing articles, extracting and analyzing data, and managing translation, documentation, and references. Despite the benefits of using AI in social research, several challenges must be considered, such as ethical considerations and concerns about data securi-ty and privacy, which may prevent the effective utilization of AI's potential. Conclusions: The study recommended using AI to enhance human capabilities and called for interdisciplinary collaborative work between research teams to enhance social research outcomes.

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence, Social Work Research, Ethical Challenges

How to Cite

Alluhaibi, M. (2025). Using artificial intelligence tools in social work research: Opportunities and Challenges. Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Social Sciences, Vol17(1), pp55-68. https://doi.org/10.54940/ss51382411

License

Copyright (c) 2023. This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC)