Welcome to 2026! I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful new year! This year 60 Watts of Clarity and The Ethical AI Social Worker are moving more into the public space and will begin sharing its AI knowledge and showcasing Ethical AI Practice.
There are social workers who have not used AI, use AI as a search engine, or are using AI , but they are unsure what they can do with it. As AI continues to be an emerging practice in social work in 2026,, it will be imperative that social workers begin to elevate their “Ethical AI Skills”.
Two Foundational Values for Ethical AI Practice
Engaging in Ethical AI practice means adapting to 2 new values. These 2 new values are not endorsed by NASW, but rather is an accumulation of my experience in building AI products and deploying them for use by my students/clients.
Value #1: Your AI is an extension of your licensure and you must apply the same standards when working with your client when engaging in “Ethical AI”
To practice AI in social work means applying our standards and code of ethics when using and deploying AI. For example, Social Workers must provide a informed consent statement when deploying an AI for your clients. This statement must inform your clients about which large language model the AI uses, the intended use of the AI, what not to use it for, and a way to contact the developer. This is one example of what it means to extend your licensure into AI, and it requires you to understand what you are deploying, which brings us to the second value.
Value #2: Social Workers Must Learn, Build, and Deploy Ethical AI into our practice
Learn, Build, and Deploy is the pathway the social work profession can use to develop AI literacy. We must learn foundational AI skills, use those skills to build AI agents, and then understand the nuances of deploying your AI agent such as managing a chat history or creating a prompt injection protocol to safeguard company data. This value recognizes that ethical practice requires competence, and competence requires hands-on experience with the technology we are asking our clients to trust. Fortunately, there is a platform that allows for this to happen without needing to know any code.
Introducing Launch Lemonade
Launch Lemonade is the world's most comprehensive no-code AI platform that lets you build, deploy, and monetize AI agents using 21+ leading models like GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, and Gemini 3.0. Simply describe what you want your AI to do, and their platform creates intelligent agents that work 24/7. You are able to build AI agents, AI Flows, and AI Agentic, all with no code. But choosing a platform is not just about features, it is about who is building it and whether they will listen when you need something to change."
Why Launch Lemonade and Building Relationships with Technology
One part of being a social worker is developing relationships with the tech companies so that we can advocate for better technology. This is systems-level practice, and it matters because if we do not have a seat at the table when these platforms are being built, we will continue to inherit tools that were not designed with our values in mind. I have a relationship with Cien Sloan, the founder of Launch Lemonade, and her company holds social work values, which is why I chose to partner with her platform.
As I was using the platform I had many questions about building and about how it worked. Through Launch, we can join a WhatsApp group, but I didn’t think I could message her directly. I wanted mentorship, and I messaged her and for about 4 to 6 months, she was mentoring me about AI, running a company, and finding my voice in the AI space. When my platform broke, she met with me. I recommended changes to memory and she implemented them, the Word doc export as well, giving my users the ability to export documents. I also recommended adding a document feature when doing an AI flow and she added that as well. A simple request like “can we get a Word doc export” and her doing it demonstrates her willingness to adapt with us, and this is the kind of responsiveness social workers need when we are deploying AI for vulnerable populations.
Cien handles all the tech, and we handle the building and deployment. She has around 7,000 users and growing, and the platform continues to evolve based on feedback from practitioners like us.
Part 1: Learning the Platform
This partnership is why I use this platform to teach social workers how to build and deploy AI, and what you are about to watch is the Learn stage of the Learn, Build, Deploy framework in action.
Learn can means watching someone go through the platform for the first time, asking questions, making mistakes, and building something together. That is what this video does, and that is how you will start your pathway to AI literacy.
I made a 50 minute video with my brother Joshua Fernandez who owns MysteryBin LLC, a company that specialize in offering one-of-a-kind, hand-picked items across a variety of categories, from vintage treasures to unexpected finds over on Ebay. Every item in their shop is carefully chosen to provide you with the ultimate mystery shopping experience.
Joshua is a business owner who sees the needs to start using AI because he is having a hard time managing his company as it grows, and he is always interested in posting to social media but is nervous about using Launch Lemonade. In the video, I talk to him about what this platform looks like, educate him on AI, and then together we make his first social media post using the tools that social workers will also use when they deploy AI in their practice.
This is just Part 1 of a training series. I will be showcasing more videos from social workers and non-social workers, because everyone needs the same foundational training regardless of their profession. It’s 50 minutes long, so spend some time when you have the time to watch and enjoy learning alongside someone who is just starting out
Ready to Get Started?
I am hosting a FREE Training on January 10, 2025 and you can register here:
Launch your own AI Team for the New Year
If you want to talk with me about learning the platform or have questions about ethical AI deployment, you can Book with Jason
Look forward to learning more with you!
Stay curious,
Profe’
Jason Fernandez is a dedicated social worker, psychology professor, and an AI technology consultant at the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston, passionate about integrating ethical innovation within human-centered practices”
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