December 1, 2025
Associate Professor Clara Berridge’s research questions the ethical and policy implications of digital technologies through a social work lens. In April, The New York Times interviewed the gerontologist about her past research on the rising trend of families installing cameras in eldercare facilities to catch and deter elder abuse.
As 18 states have enacted laws allowing the cameras, with legislation pending in several more, Berridge voiced concern over the loss of dignity and privacy for the residents, and the surveillance preemptively treating staff members as suspects. She views cameras as “a symptom, not a solution,” which provide a Band-Aid for residents who have someone to surveil their care, but can distract from the work of ensuring quality long-term care for everyone. “Do cameras actually deter abuse and neglect? Does it cause a facility to change its policies or improve?” asked Berridge.
With legislative battles still being waged over cameras in eldercare facilities, Berridge has shifted her focus in recent years to a different technology: artificial intelligence.
A Social Work Voice in Public Tech Discourse
Berridge’s expertise is increasingly sought by national media as elder care becomes a testing ground for rapidly advancing AI and automation technologies.
She recently joined Emily Bender, UW linguist, and Alex Hanna, director of the Distributed AI Research Institute, on the podcast Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 as they dissected both the promises and pitfalls of AI companions marketed to older adults. Berridge observed the way generative AI tools are being positioned to provide “companionship,” coaching and reminders about health-related behaviors, often with the goal of reducing costs for insurers. She underscored the risks of opaque data practices and privacy violations and emphasized how these technologies can reinforce ageist and ableist stereotypes.
As societies worldwide experience demographic shifts toward older populations, Berridge argues that tech solutions like chatbots are too often used to sidestep the need for meaningful, human-centered care.
In October 2025, she served as a panelist for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Hauser Policy Impact Fund webinar, From Longevity to Vitality: Leveraging Technology for Thriving in Later Life. Her presentation emphasized the urgent need for stronger privacy protections for older adults and the importance of recognizing that people and technology are inseparable. Berridge posited that safeguarding privacy is a collective responsibility and cautioned against normalizing careless data practices in the name of innovation.
Empowering the Next Generation
As the breakneck proliferation of AI technology continues in both professional and personal life, Berridge is teaching a new course at the UW School of Social Work called Social Welfare and AI: Power, Ethics and Social Impacts, which explores how automation intersects with core social work values.
Students are asked to examine the ways that automated decision-making systems impact health, public sector and social services and to explore questions about how AI tools interact with existing systems of power. This course aims to empower a new generation of social workers with the critical framework to knowledgeably question the use of AI in healthcare spaces.
Through helping others understand and explore rapid changes in public and educational settings, Berridge continues her mission to push for a future where innovation aligns with ethics, equity and human dignity.