In this episode, Soyeb and Siobhan explore virtual working and artificial intelligence in social work. They reflect on their different experiences of AI, with Soyeb using it regularly and Siobhan approaching it more cautiously. The episode recognises the mixed messages often given to students about AI, while acknowledging that it is already part of the world they are learning and practising in. Rather than pretending AI is not being used, the conversation asks how social workers, educators, and organisations can engage with it critically, ethically, and transparently.

The conversation explores both the benefits and risks of AI, including the need to be clearer about what tools are being used, why they are being used, and who is being affected by them. Soyeb and Siobhan consider whether social work is being critical enough about AI and how questions of environmental impact, power, access, bias and accountability connect this discussion to anti-oppressive practice and green social work.

The episode also considers virtual and home-based working and the impact this has on relationships, creativity, learning, and professional development. They ask whether new ways of working risk narrowing how social workers engage with people and what is lost when students and practitioners have fewer informal opportunities to learn alongside colleagues in shared spaces.

It is an episode about curiosity, caution, and the importance of keeping people, relationships, ethics, and reflection at the centre of social work as technology continues to change the conditions of practice.