Empowering or Displacing? Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Social Work

赋能或取代？人工智能与社会工作的未来

Dr. Moon Jeong Choi 崔文禎博士

Associate Professor, Korean Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, South Korea

韓國科學技術學院副教授

Abstract: This plenary talk examines the rapid development and expanding deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) across both the private and public sectors, with particular attention to the stakeholders, interests, and values shaping this transformation. It explores the recent proliferation of generative and multimodal AI through the lens of social work’s professional mission, ethical commitments, and practice realities. The talk takes a critical perspective on whether current forms of AI, along with the ways they are developed, designed, and implemented, have the potential to empower or risk further disempowering social work professionals and the people they serve. Drawing on cases from across Asia, where state capacity, cultural norms, and digital infrastructure intersect in distinctive ways, the talk moves from critique toward action, offering policy implications for social work educators, practitioners, and advocates who seek to shape the AI transformation rather than remain passive users of it.

Bio: Professor Moon Choi (최문정, 崔文禎) is an Endowed Chair Professor at the KAIST Graduate School of Science and Technology Policy, where she founded and directs the Aging & Technology Policy Lab. She holds the distinction of being the first full-time professor at KAIST with a doctoral degree in social welfare—an appointment that reflects both her unique intellectual identity and her commitment to humanizing science, technology, and innovation at one of the world’s leading STEM institutions. Her academic journey spans continents and disciplines. She earned a B.S. in Biochemistry from Yonsei University, an M.A. in Social Welfare from Seoul National University, and a Ph.D. in Social Welfare from Case Western Reserve University, where she also completed a certificate in Gerontology. She has served as a consultant to the United Nations and currently serves as Chair of the OECD-Korea Digital Society Initiative.