Explore
The Explore pathway is for everyone working in health and social care, irrespective of role. This pathway introduces artificial intelligence (AI) and covers what AI is, how it is used and some of the key AI language.
The Explore Pathway
Step 1 - What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
| Question |
| You may be hearing the terms ‘artificial intelligence’ or ‘AI’ used more frequently, often described as the next big thing when it comes to digital. What do you think AI is? |
| Read |
Have a look at this definition of AI as outlined in Scotland’s AI Strategy. |
Step 2 - AI in Everyday Life
| Question |
| You may already be using tools, apps and systems that use AI across different areas of your life. What examples can you think of? |
| Watch |
This video highlights some common uses of AI that you might recognise. Link: Introduction to AI - National Digital Inclusion Network |
| Question |
| Reflecting on your own examples, and those included in the video, how do you feel about how AI is used in your everyday tasks? Are you keen to embrace it? Does it worry you in any way? |
Step 3 - AI Jargon
| Read |
AI has brought with it a whole new list of technical terms. You don’t need to understand all of these fully, but it may be helpful to find out more about the jargon that you hear more regularly, for example, ‘generative AI’ or ‘deepfake’. Use this helpful jargon buster to check your understanding of any terms you’re not sure about. |
| Question |
| Did any of the definitions surprise you? Do you think you could explain these definitions to colleagues or friends? |
Step 4 - How does AI work?
| Read |
As AI becomes prominent in our lives, it’s important to understand how it works so that you can decide how and when to engage with AI tools. This guide explains how AI learns using examples like chatbots and self-driving cars. Link: What is AI? A simple guide to help you understand artificial intelligence - BBC News |
| Question |
Has this guide changed your understanding of AI? What are your initial thoughts on what you have read? The guide may have prompted more questions (which is ok), make a note of these and think about how you can find out the answers. |
Step 5 - AI in Health and Social Care (NEW)
| Question |
| As a health and social care professional, have you already come across AI as part of your working life? Do you know if it is being used across the services your organisation offers? |
| Read |
AI technologies are already being used in lots of different ways across our health and social care services, and there are still further opportunities to be explored. However, it's important that the use of AI in delivering health and care is managed carefully with consideration of potential risks. Ally Cares is an acoustic monitoring system powered by intelligent alerting that is used to support falls prevention in care homes. Tools like this detect movement and sound in real time, helping staff anticipate incidents rather than react to them. Have a look at this case study which explains how Ally Cares is being used in a care home to integrate with existing care planning systems to improve safety and reduce workloads: Link: Working Smarter: AI Preventing Falls - Digital Care Hub |
| Question |
| In the case study, the care home manager acknowledges that care services can sometimes be fearful of the risks that advanced technologies bring with them. What do you think would help staff and people who use services to trust new AI technologies? |
Step 6 - AI Quiz
| Quiz |
This short quiz may challenge your perceptions of AI and address some of the common myths associated with it’s use. Link: AI quiz: Can you tell which person is real? - BBC News |
| Questions |
How do you feel about your results? Were there any answers that surprised you? What action do you want to take to increase your understanding of how AI is used and could be used in your workplace? |
What next?
You have now completed the Explore pathway.
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Further Resources
Find further resources on artificial intelligence on the Digital and Data Resource Hub.
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