Artificial intelligence is being used to train staff in what is thought to be a UK first for the social care sector amid hopes it could help speedily tackle workforce shortages.
A pilot in London and the South East which began this month is expected to have trained around 60 new carers by the end of August. “And it is technologies like this that are helping to address these pressures in a very sustainable way.” “I used to say I wish I could be in two places at once – welcoming new staff in one part of the region and supporting my current staff in another is the dream with a region like ours that is so geographically spread out – this is as close as I think anyone can get to that.”
Dr Maruthappu said there is already a mix of in-person and online training, but that the use of avatars “makes the online training so much more personalised”. “Having said that, because social care is at heart a ‘people job’, the most important training that care workers will ever receive is likely to be of the hands-on variety.