Mellan effektivisering och professionellt ansvar : En kvalitativ studie om AI i socialtjänstens vardags praktik

Sammanfattning

The increasing digitalization of social services has led to a growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) as support in documentation practices. The aim of this study is to explore how social workers experience the impact of AI-based tools on their professional practice, with a particular focus on documentation, workload, and professional discretion. The study adopts a qualitative approach and is based on semi-structured interviews with three social workers employed in municipal social services. The empirical material was analysed using thematic analysis, informed by the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and sociotechnical theory. The findings indicate that AI is perceived as a resource that can streamline documentation processes, reduce cognitive strain, and enable more time for client-centred work. At the same time, AI introduces new demands, such as increased responsibility for reviewing AI-generated content, ethical considerations, and the need for digital competence. However, these demands are not experienced as external impositions but as organisationally embedded elements of everyday social work practice. The study concludes that AI functions simultaneously as a resource and a demand, depending on how it is implemented and integrated into professional routines.