AI must be shaped by social work values, says International Federation of Social Workers

The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) contributed to the 2026 AI for Developing Countries Forum Geneva Summit, held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 12–14 August, bringing together governments, international organisations, technology experts, researchers and civil society to examine who will shape artificial intelligence (AI) and who will benefit from its development.

For social work, IFSW said the debate is not primarily about technology but about human rights, social justice, power, participation and solidarity.

AI is already influencing environments in which people live and social workers practise, with automated systems increasingly capable of affecting access to information, education, employment, healthcare and social services. While the technology could create opportunities to improve access to knowledge and services, IFSW warned that it could also reproduce discrimination, concentrate power and exacerbate existing inequalities without deliberate action.

The Forum’s manifesto, “Small Takes the Lead: The Future Belongs to the Many, Not the Few”, highlighted concerns about the concentration of knowledge, resources, wealth and power among a small number of technology companies, while much of the global population risks becoming primarily a source of data, labour and markets.

IFSW said this raises a fundamental question for social work: whether AI will strengthen people’s agency, dignity and participation, or whether decisions affecting people’s lives will increasingly be made through systems they neither understand nor control.

The Forum also highlighted the risk of a new digital divide between the majority world and minority world. Communities with fewer economic resources, limited digital infrastructure or languages poorly represented in AI systems could receive fewer benefits while facing disproportionate risks.

Language was identified as one example, with more than 7,000 languages spoken worldwide but fewer than 100 well served by existing AI systems. IFSW stressed that language encompasses culture, identity, relationships, knowledge and ways of understanding the world, meaning that systems unable to recognise these dimensions could exclude communities whose voices are already under-represented.

The federation also argued that social workers need to be involved in decisions about how AI systems are trained, governed and used, rather than only responding once their consequences become apparent.

AI is increasingly being used by people at moments of vulnerability, including young people seeking information about suicide or self-harm, families experiencing crises and people experiencing violence. Governments and organisations may also use automated systems to assess needs, allocate resources or identify risk.

IFSW said these applications raise questions about safeguarding, relationships, culture, ethics, discrimination, human behaviour and human rights, areas in which social workers have significant knowledge and practice experience.

Representing IFSW at the Geneva summit, Interim Secretary-General Pascal Rudin contributed to panel discussions on digital infrastructure, education and corporate responsibility. He brought a social work perspective to discussions about the social and ethical implications of AI, highlighting the need to connect technological innovation with human rights, social justice, relationships and people’s lived experiences.

“Our task is not to resist technology. It is to help ensure that technology strengthens human relationships, dignity and solidarity rather than replacing them; that it expands people’s opportunities rather than creating new forms of exclusion; and that the benefits of AI are shared across the majority and minority worlds. Social work has something important to contribute to that future, and we need to be at the table while it is being shaped,” Rudin added.

IFSW Global President Eva Ponce de Leon said engagement with AI should form part of the profession’s wider commitment to social justice.

“AI is rapidly becoming part of the environments in which people live, learn, work and seek support. Social work has a critical role in shaping that future. Our responsibility is to ensure that technological development strengthens human rights, social justice and solidarity, and that communities everywhere are participants in this transformation rather than being left behind.”

The Forum concluded by emphasising plurality and distributed power, arguing that small should not be understood as weakness but as a principle of humility and diversity, with the future belonging to the many rather than the few.