Artificial intelligence-supported group facilitation: emerging potentials, cautious approaches, and ethical considerations in social work practice

Over recent decades, technology, from telephone crisis lines to digital communication systems, has profoundly reconfigured social work practice, setting the stage for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into group facilitation. While AI‐enabled tools such as generative and conversational AI systems (e.g. ChatGPT, voice assistants, and therapeutic chatbots) show theoretical potential for augmenting group communication, enhancing data analysis, and supporting personalized interventions, empirical evidence for their effectiveness in live, face-to-face group settings remains limited. This paper provides a theoretically grounded review of AI’s emerging opportunities alongside significant ethical concerns, including privacy breaches, algorithmic bias, and the potential devaluation of human facilitation. Drawing on systems theory, a strengths-based perspective, and cultural competence, the analysis emphasizes caution in leveraging AI without sufficient attention to ethical risks and effectiveness validation. It proposes preliminary mitigation strategies to safeguard human-centered group processes while opening a broader conversation about ethically aligning technology with practice.