Harnessing AI to Strengthen Social Welfare
BGU researcher Dr. Talia Meital Schwartz-Tayri develops tools that help identify risk earlier and improve welfare support.
Artificial intelligence is transforming medicine, transportation, and industry. At Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Dr. Talia Meital Schwartz-Tayri is applying it to a different challenge: helping social workers identify risk earlier and better support vulnerable populations.
A senior faculty member in the Charlotte B. and Jack J. Spitzer Department of Social Work, Dr. Schwartz-Tayri heads the AI for Social Welfare Research Lab, which develops data-driven tools designed to strengthen social services and improve outcomes for individuals, families, and communities. By combining artificial intelligence, big data, and social work expertise, the lab seeks to identify emerging needs before they become crises and provide professionals with better information for making decisions.
Bringing AI Into the Service of Society
The AI for Social Welfare Research Lab applies advanced computational methods to complex social challenges. Drawing on data from welfare, education, and healthcare systems, researchers develop tools capable of identifying patterns that may otherwise go unnoticed, helping practitioners better understand risks, needs, and opportunities for intervention.
Rather than replacing professional judgment, artificial intelligence is seen as a decision-support tool. Its goal is to equip social workers and policymakers with more comprehensive and accurate information, enabling evidence-based decisions and more effective support for those who need it most.
Data-Driven Early Detection of Risk
One of the laboratory’s flagship projects combines nearly 30 years of welfare records with data from nine national databases in Israel to identify both risk factors and sources of resilience among children facing adversity.
“Instead of the system responding when it is already too late, we want to enable preventive action,” says Dr. Schwartz-Tayri. “By identifying patterns that signal deterioration in real time, we can support interventions tailored to the unique resilience mechanisms of different individuals and families.”
The research aims not only to identify vulnerability but also to understand what helps children and families thrive despite difficult circumstances. By uncovering these resilience factors, the team hopes to support more personalized and effective interventions.
From Social Work to Data Science
Before joining Ben-Gurion University, Dr. Schwartz-Tayri completed doctoral studies focused on welfare policy and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, where she specialized in data analytics for social impact.
That interdisciplinary background continues to shape her work today. By combining expertise in social policy, research methodology, and artificial intelligence, she is helping create new approaches to understanding and addressing social challenges.
According to Dr. Schwartz-Tayri, technology should strengthen, not replace, the work of social workers.
“Social workers are the beating heart of the welfare system,” she explains. “Our goal is to provide them with broader, data-driven insights that help them make better informed and more precise decisions.”
Human-Centered AI
A defining feature of the AI for Social Welfare Research Lab is its emphasis on ethical and responsible innovation. Alongside technological development, the research team prioritizes privacy protection, transparency, accessibility, and the prevention of algorithmic bias that could adversely affect vulnerable populations.
“The algorithm is only a tool,” says Dr. Schwartz-Tayri. “Social and human responsibility will always remain in human hands.”
Her long-term vision is an intelligent support system capable of identifying distress before it escalates, recommending tailored interventions, and providing assistance in real time.
“Artificial intelligence is not an end in itself,” she says. “It is a means of strengthening welfare systems and society as a whole. When integrated responsibly, it can save lives, reduce inequalities, and improve the services every citizen receives.”
