AI note-taking: if you’re not already using it you should be

In every social worker’s toolkit, there's an invisible burden rarely spoken about: paperwork. 

It’s not always the trauma, safeguarding pressures, or the unending caseloads that wear us down, sometimes it’s the unrelenting rhythm of writing. The constant typing. The detailed case notes. The ever-present need to justify, evidence, and defend every professional decision. 

While essential, documentation has too often drained the very energy needed to do meaningful, person-centred social work. 

When I first stepped into the world of social work, I imagined difficult conversations, emotional resilience, and deep impact. What I didn't anticipate was the admin mountain that came with it. 

As someone who actually enjoys writing, I found myself dreading the sheer volume of documentation expected. I began to wonder, do you need to be a novelist to survive in this field?

Toxic relationship with admin

During a recent training session, I was introduced to MAGIC Notes, an AI recording tool that immediately struck me as one of the most practical innovations in social work practice.

Despite its whimsical name, the impact is anything but make-believe. I’ll admit, I was initially sceptical. Could a piece of artificial intelligence genuinely ease the documentation burden that has long weighed down frontline practitioners? Let’s be honest. Social work has always had a toxic relationship with admin. Perhaps, an AI recording tool is the therapy we didn’t know we needed. 

Many practitioners will recognise the experience: visits piling up, a backlog of case notes, and the scramble to recall conversations before details fade. 

Before MAGIC Notes, I’d leave visits with a half-legible notebook, racing to type it all up before close of business. Other days, my brain runs on overdrive, tasked with recalling details from memory in my bed, making mental notes and feeling the weight of unfinished work. 

MAGIC Notes replaces traditional manual note-taking with real-time audio recording via my work phone. During visits, it captures the conversation so I can engage more meaningfully with the service user. At the end, I walk out with a ready-made draft in my inbox and a clear head for the next case. Afterwards, I simply select a customised template - like a Care Act Assessment, Mental Capacity Assessment or Case Note - and the tool organises the information into structured sections. 

This functionality is a potential game changer. It strikes a valuable balance between automation and space for critical thinking and professional judgement, the kind of support practitioners need: tools that enhance rather than replace our role.

I trialled it during a safeguarding strategy meeting to capture the minutes, and it was brilliant. Within seconds of the meeting ending, the minutes were already generated. 

It saved time, reduced pressure, and allowed me to stay fully engaged in the discussion without scrambling to take notes. 

Have you ever had to go back days later to update a case note after remembering a valid point you skipped? I no longer feel chained to my keyboard, scrambling to remember who said what.

MAGIC Notes doesn’t just record; it reminds me that documentation should serve the person, not punish the practitioner. It didn’t simply cut my admin time, it gave me back time. Time to breathe, to think, to truly listen and not drown in documentation. It has made me work smarter, allowing greater focus on the human elements of my practice without compromising the quality of my records. 

Limitations and concerns

Of course, like any new tool, MAGIC Notes isn’t without its limitations. Some practitioners have shared mixed feedback:

“Sometimes it records things that weren’t actually said, so you need to be super cautious about copying and pasting.”

“It doesn’t capture the service user’s tone in tense conversations.” 

“If you’re a detailed writer, you’ll notice it omits crucial information. For example, it once assumed there were no debts when a client had clearly disclosed financial difficulties." 

For those of us who take pride in thorough, defensible case note recording, MAGIC Notes can feel like a blessing and a challenge. While it saves time, I’ve found myself repeatedly refining instructions, and guiding its output to suit my writing style, standards and ensure defensibility.

At times, it feels like troubleshooting a system to extract the most accurate details, which can be time-consuming. I still review every transcribed summary, edit where needed, and apply my professional judgement. But now, I do it without burning out.

There are valid concerns. Could overreliance on AI lead to lazy thinking? What about consent and data protection? These are not just theoretical questions, they matter in day-to-day practice. 

A practitioner experienced that service users withheld information during recorded conversations. Personally, I haven’t experienced this. I’ve found that the way I introduce the tool makes a difference. I explain that it’s simply a note-taker, designed to help me give them my undivided attention. 

Once consent is clearly requested and granted, most people engage openly. MAGIC Notes is not surveillance but a support tool. While it records, it does not remember. After two months, it automatically deletes records. 

Rethinking how we work

Artificial Intelligence will never replace observation, empathy, or ethics. But with thoughtful implementation, it can free us to use those human skills more. 

From the moment we step into a home, we’re reading the unspoken: body language, environmental cues, and emotional tone. 

MAGIC Notes articulates only the information, but it can’t interpret silence, clutter, hoarding or fear in a room. That’s where our observation skills and human intelligence, matter so much.

Judgement, analysis, and reflection aren’t optional extras; they are the core of practice. 
Still, despite its imperfections, I’ve found MAGIC Notes to be a significant step forward. It invites us to rethink how we work, not by eliminating professional skill but by making space for it. 

This tool doesn’t replace social work. It enhances it, but only when paired with the critical lens we bring to the work. 

Interestingly, word about MAGIC Notes is spreading beyond social work. A colleague recently shared that health professionals intrigued by its potential, had begun asking how they might gain access. 

When told that it was an approved and adopted AI work tool by our local council, they were visibly impressed. It’s a reminder that the challenges of documentation and burnout aren't unique to social work. 

Retaining person-centred work

There’s increasing recognition that digital innovation is essential if employers want to retain staff, reduce burnout, and allow social workers to focus on meaningful, relational practice. 

AI recording tools could help shift our time and energy back toward people. But we must proceed thoughtfully. The broader questions remain. 

• Can AI truly hold the nuance of person-centred work?
• Will tools like this reduce burnout, or inadvertently increase it by adding new layers of complexity?
• Will councils use it as a justification to cut agency staff recruitment or resources and increase caseloads, or to empower their existing workforce to focus on meaningful work?
• Does it risk replacing human relationships with mechanical processes? 
   

These aren’t deal breakers. They’re guideposts, ethical considerations that should shape how we adopt and implement this technology. 

A recent study by Lee et al. (2025) explored how Generative AI affects critical thinking among knowledge workers. 

The findings were thought-provoking: individuals with high confidence in AI tools reported reduced cognitive effort, relying more on the technology than their own judgement. Conversely, those with higher self-confidence were more likely to engage in independent critical thinking and use AI as a support, not a substitute. 

In social work terms, this suggests that while MAGIC Notes can accelerate documentation, we must guard against letting it do our thinking for us. The tool should free up mental bandwidth for deeper reflection, not lull us into mental inertia. 

Could frequent use of AI tools cause practitioners to second-guess themselves? Might we, over time, outsource not just our note-taking but our thinking? 

Critical reflection

As we embrace AI tools, let us not lose sight of our professional compass. The promise of AI is compelling; efficiency, accuracy, less administrative strain, but these gains must be balanced with critical reflection. AI should support our confidence, not erode it. 

Practitioners must carve out moments of self-awareness: Am I using this tool to support my thinking, or is it starting to replace it? 

Let's ensure our voice, judgement, and ethics remain central to every record we produce. Technology should never overshadow the human core of social work. It’s a support, not a substitute.

If social work is going to evolve, we must embrace tools that work with us, not against us. MAGIC Notes is one such tool. It’s not a shortcut. It’s a companion. And in a profession as demanding as ours, that makes all the difference. 

So here’s my message to every council still on the fence: if you want to retain social workers, reduce admin fatigue, and support meaningful practice, then start with an AI recording tool.
If innovation is the future of social work, then MAGIC Notes is already holding the door open. All we need to do is walk through it with care, curiosity, and our professional values intact.

Mma Ken-Akparanta is a social worker based in an Adults Prevention Team

See BASW's guidance and resources on the use of AI in social work