As speech therapists, our goal is to help our clients improve their communication skills and achieve their full potential. And while we may have a wealth of experience and years of training, it's always exciting to explore new tools and techniques that can help our clients reach those goals. While a tool to lighten our load may sound appealing, the idea of using artificial intelligence (AI) for therapy may seem daunting or even scary. AI has been very elusive and controversial in recent years, and therapists may not know too much about it. Speech therapists may also be hesitant to spend time learning and investigating new technology and may prefer to stick with traditional methods of therapy. With the introduction of AI tools like ChatGPT, we can see how AI can actually enhance our practice in many ways. These cutting-edge technologies can revolutionize the way we plan for sessions, write our therapy notes, and communicate with our clients.
Defining Artificial Intelligence
First, let's define what we mean by Artificial Intelligence. AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and learn like humans. Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer, or better known as ChatGPT, is a specific type of AI model developed by OpenAI that is trained on a vast amount of text data. This simply means that it can understand and respond to written language as it was taught using a lot of examples of written language. It has the ability to generate human-like text in response to a given prompt.
How therapists can use Chat GPT
So, how can speech therapists use ChatGPT in therapy? There are many possibilities. Here are a few examples:
- Inspiration for therapy materials: ChatGPT can generate stories, paragraphs, or lists of words that can serve as therapy materials, or even as inspiration for materials that a therapist could create. For example, a therapist working with a child who is practicing the production of /b/ might ask ChatGPT to generate a list of words that begin with B that have to do with the child’s favorite sport. ChatGPT will give you a list of words beginning with B, that all relate to something that the child is interested in. Another example; A therapist is working with a client who is working on improving retell of a story. The therapist can ask ChatGPT “Create a story at the first grade reading level that has to do with a boy who travels to space” Within seconds, ChatGPT will create a story, meant for a first grader, about space - that you can now use for your session.
- Spontaneous sessions and backup plans: Sometimes, a therapy plan may not be working as well as intended. ChatGPT can be used to generate new ideas and prompts for spontaneous sessions or quick pivots. For example, a therapist working with a client who is struggling with conversational turn taking could use ChatGPT to generate a list of potential conversation starters to kick things off or create a story that then you can discuss. Another example could be a child who is dealing with behaviors during the session. Let’s say the child is spending the session hiding under the table. You could ask ChatGPT “Why shouldn’t I hide under the table during speech therapy?” And ChatGPT will provide you with a variety of reasons why (I could bump my head, the speech therapist cant see my face...) that you can talk about with the child during the session. For older children, ChatGPT can be a really fun tool in therapy if you let them pick the topic or the prompt you want to generate.
- Writing session notes: ChatGPT can also be used to help therapists write session notes more efficiently. For example, a therapist could input a prompt like "summarize the key points of today's therapy session" given session data or dicatation, and ChatGPT could generate a summary of the session that the therapist could use as the basis for their notes. Though dictation tools exist, there is still a need for easier note taking and documentation. Ambiki, a software company of SLPs, OTs, and PTs, is currently working on developing ways for therapy notes to write themselves with analytics that automatically identify errors and trials. Speech therapists can also use ChatGPT to generate progress reports for clients and their caregivers, outlining the client’s progress, challenges and goals.
These are just a few examples of how ChatGPT can be used by speech therapists in their practice. In the next section, we will introduce Ambiki's Kiki Creates tool, which is another AI tool that can be used for similar purposes, and has been trained specifically for producing pediatric therapy content.
Kiki Creates
Ambiki’s Kiki Creates is an AI tool that can be used to generate personalized content for therapy sessions, such as stories, activities, and more. Therapists can generate content for sessions quickly and easily, saving them time and effort with session planning and ideas. Kiki Creates is also trained specifically on therapy and appropriate pediatric content which means that there is a less likelihood of generating bad words or weird answers that are not suitable in a therapy setting. This makes Kiki Creates much more suited to therapists compared to other AI tools. You can try Kiki Creates for free today on Ambiki's website.
Conclusion
As speech therapists, we should not be afraid to explore new technology as it becomes available to us, especially if it makes our jobs easier. ChatGPT and Kiki Creates are powerful tools that can help us unlock the full potential of AI in speech therapy and save us time planning and preparing. ChatGPT can be used to generate human-like text, providing endless possibilities for therapy sessions, while Kiki Creates can be used to quickly generate personalized content for therapy sessions. We encourage you to give it a try and see the benefits for yourself and your clients. Don't wait, start exploring the power of AI in speech therapy today!
