Shaping the future in a digital age

Our Digital Trustee, Sundeep Sidhu, reflects on the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence (AI), and why its impact will ultimately be shaped by our values, and the choices we make, not just the technology itself.

 

As technology continues to evolve, the role it plays in healthcare cannot be ignored. From artificial intelligence (AI) to data-driven tools, the opportunities are vast, as are the risks.

I’ve spent over 25 years working in technology across management, product development and leadership and coaching roles. Becoming the RCSLT Digital Trustee has been particularly meaningful. I’ve learned that when we really listen to people, what they think they need is often just the visible part of a much bigger issue. My job is to understand those needs. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way is that there are rarely digital or technology problems, it’s usually a culture, learning, or people problem.

 

Keeping up to speed with the digital age

AI unlike earlier tech is being adopted in months rather than years, and its influence on healthcare is growing exponentially. This brings opportunity and risk. In some ways, changes are outside of our control but in others there is a real chance to shape how technology is used within our profession. If we do not take that opportunity, decisions may be driven primarily by external pressures such as cost, efficiency or scale.

Healthcare systems are under intense strain. There will inevitably be pressure to use AI to improve efficiency, particularly in diagnostics. However, speech and language therapy is fundamentally a caring relational profession, and technology cannot replace this human core.

This raises important questions for the profession. How do we ensure SLTs feel confident engaging with these tools? And how do we avoid being left behind?

Engagement doesn’t require technical expertise, but it does require curiosity. SLTs are already using digital tools in creative ways to personalise care and improve patient engagement. This kind of innovation extends and enhances our abilities and will only grow more powerful.

 

A grassroots responsibility

One of the important things to understand about AI adoption and use is that it is not only a top-down issue, it’s a grassroots one. The people best placed to understand how to use these tools safely and effectively are the practitioners themselves. If we see AI as something external that’s being ‘done to us’, that is when it becomes most risky. Instead, we need to be thinking confidently and creatively about how it can support our work and improve patient outcomes. At the same time, we need clear guidance and guardrails particularly around privacy, ethics and best practice.

Billions of people have begun using AI over the past year. If you look at the technology adoption curve, from early innovators to early adopters, the early and late majority, and finally the beautifully named laggards, we are firmly in the early‑adoption stage, where people are picking up AI over months rather than years.

To avoid falling behind, individuals need to stay informed, experiment in safe ways, and build confidence with these technologies.

As tools like ROOT develop with useful real world healthcare data, there is a real opportunity for SLT’s to be a leading innovator in this space. But there are also risks. People will attempt to diagnose and treat themselves online using ChatGPT or similar platforms rather than seeking professional care. This is one of the reasons why RCSLT has such an important role in shaping government policy, guiding SLTs, creating robust frameworks, and supporting communities with best practice to ensure AI is used safely and effectively.

 

Balancing innovation with what really matters

In healthcare, there are many different stakeholders, patients, practitioners, commissioners and wider systems and they don’t always share the same priorities. As SLTs, the focus is rightly on delivering the best possible outcomes for people with communication and swallowing needs. One SLT team used AI to help communicate with a young patient by co-creating a magazine with his favourite cartoon dog and exercises to help his therapy, this personalised and engaging care led to a significantly improved outcome.

Other stakeholders prioritise efficiency, scalability, or cost, so understanding the bigger picture is important for our profession if we want to influence how services evolve. We need to stay grounded in what matters most and ask ourselves, is what we’re doing making care more effective, not just more efficient? That’s especially important as AI becomes more embedded in everyday practice.

 

Looking ahead

If you are not sure where to begin, my advice is simple: start. There are many resources available. The most valuable learning often comes from trying things out for yourself within appropriate safeguards. Use AI tools in line with guidance from your employer and the HCPC; ask questions, test ideas, and explore what these tools can do, while being mindful of confidentiality and data privacy.

It’s especially important to recognise the limitations of AI. At it’s core, AI is a predictive engine and a mathematical machine. It hallucinates outputs that sound highly convincing but aren’t accurate or appropriate.

Professional judgement is essential, sense checking outputs and comparing them against trusted sources, and where needed challenging them.

AI will continue to evolve at pace. We have a choice: we can either stand by and watch it shape the profession, or we can take an active role in shaping it ourselves. For me that starts with staying curious, engaged and focused on what matters most, which is supporting people to communicate and live better lives.

 

 

Find out more

RCSLT have published new principles to support the safe, ethical and appropriate use of artificial intelligence (AI) across the profession. We also hosts webinars on AI and what the risks are etc, stay connected and informed.

If you have not already, why not log in and take a look at our winter 2026 Bulletin issue, where we explore how evolving technologies are shaping today’s digital healthcare and the future of speech and language therapy. We share evidence on the ongoing debate around ‘screen time’, generative AI, and the need for training in areas such as data safety and consent.