AI for SLPs: How To Use AI To Work Faster & Smarter in 2024+
Feeling overwhelmed in your role as an SLP? If your to-do list keeps growing, you’re not alone. Every year it seems like we are getting more clients, more complex cases, and more complicated paperwork — it’s a lot to handle.
What if there was something to lighten the load? I’ve started to dip my toe into using AI in my practice, and I’ve found it surprisingly helpful. AI can help SLPs with everything from managing schedules to customizing therapy plans. The challenge? Keeping up with all the new tools coming out.
That’s why I built this site and article—to help busy SLPs like you discover how AI can make your workday smoother and your sessions more effective.
Curious? Let’s explore how AI for SLPs can help you work smarter, not harder!
1. Intervention
This is probably my favorite way to use AI right now!
Personalized Therapy Plans & Materials
AI can help any SLP create engaging and motivating speech or language practice materials. One of the ways I like to use AI is through ChatGPT.
I’ll input a student’s speech sound inventory and have it generate personalized speech practice cards. To make them even more fun, I ask each student about their favorite colors and animals and then use those details to design their target cards.
It’s quick and easy, and I’ve found that it really boosts the student’s interest in therapy.
Real-Time Feedback
AI can also be used during therapy to give real-time feedback to clients as they practice.
This immediate feedback can help reinforce correct pronunciation and fluency, giving clients more chances to self-correct and improve even outside of traditional therapy sessions.
Right now, this feature seems most effective for adult clients working on their speaking skills—especially those focusing on accent reduction, fluency, or prosody.
I’ll be honest and say that I haven’t tried this yet, as I work with younger students!
2. Assessment
AI is a great tool for speech and language assessments, and it’s only going to get better in the years to come.
Speech Analysis
One big area AI is already helping with is speech analysis. Tools like Microsoft’s Pronunciation Assessment and Pronounce can break down speech patterns and give real-time feedback on pronunciation, fluency, and prosody.
For example, an SLP might use these tools during a session to track a client’s progress over time or pinpoint specific areas of improvement.
Again, these programs are better for older clients—like teens or adults—who can read text aloud and are working on targets like speech sounds or accent reduction.
Faster Language Sample Analysis
Another promising use of AI is analyzing language samples. According to the video below – from Language Dynamics Group, AI can cut down the time it takes to analyze these samples by up to 40%, making the process much faster.
I’m really excited to try using AI to analyze language samples!
Accuracy and Limitations
While AI tools are great for saving time, they should always be aids, not replacements, for your professional judgment.
SLPs should always review AI-generated feedback and ensure it aligns with their own clinical observations from the session. AI can be pretty accurate, but it’s certainly not perfect.
And, it’s not the AI’s professional license on the line, it’s yours! So, take the time to review everything and make sure it makes sense to you and matches your clinical judgments from the session.
3. Documentation
Ah, documentation—the task every SLP loves to hate! Luckily, AI can make this part of the job a lot easier.
Automated Session Notes
One of the simplest ways to streamline your paperwork is by using AI-powered tools to help with session notes. Many apps now allow you to record your therapy sessions, and the AI transcribes the session into a detailed treatment note.
You’ll be amazed at how fast and accurate these notes are! You can spend less time typing up SOAP notes and more time focusing on your clients.
Of course, you’ll still need to review everything for accuracy, but it cuts down on the time spent writing by a lot.
Tools to Try
One tool I’m particularly excited about is Tenalog™ by Ambiki. It generates AI-powered progress notes, including SOAP and DAP notes, based on session summaries or dictations.
Another option worth exploring is AutoNotes, which offers customizable templates and secure document storage. Both tools aim to save you time while keeping your notes organized and compliant.
Time-Saving Benefits
The biggest perk of using AI to help with your documentation is how much time it can save. And, because the AI transcribes your notes immediately after the session, you’ll have accurate records while everything is still fresh in your mind.
Now, it’s important to remember that the tools aren’t perfect. Always double-check your notes for accuracy and make sure the details align with what happened in the session.
The AI will get you most of the way there on notes – but always use your professional expertise.
4. Session Planning
I’ve always found session planning to take lots of time.
These days, there are new AI tools that can help you plan your sessions and give you ready-made treatment materials like minimal pair sets, online therapy games, and visual schedules.
This is especially helpful for SLPs working in teletherapy, where you need to have a variety of ready-to-use, engaging online materials.
One tool that I’m looking into is Ambiki, which is HIPAA-compliant and designed to help you create sessions that perfectly align with your client’s goals, strengths, and interests.
These tools allow you to focus more on delivering effective therapy and less on hunting down resources, which is a huge plus for busy SLPs.
5. Research
This is actually one of the most exciting ways AI can benefit SLPs!
Research Summarization
SLPs are required to stay up-to-date with current research so that we can always provide evidence-based treatments for our clients.
AI tools make it so easy to keep up with the latest research. With AI-driven research summarization, you can have the AI quickly scan dense studies and pull out the key points. This can save you hours of reading if you just need to know the basics of the article.
AI can also recommend customized articles based on your interests or what you’ve already read. If you use automated alerts, AI can notify you when new research on a topic is published.
Some tools to try for this are Research Rabbit and Semantic Scholar.
6. Clinical Decision-Making
I’ll admit, I’m skeptical about this one for now. I don’t think SLPs should rely on AI for any clinical decisions anytime soon.
But, I do believe that kind of assistance is coming—just not yet. While nothing will ever replace human insight, intuition, and empathy, AI could still offer some useful tools to help us make data-driven decisions.
Data-Driven Therapy
AI tools could eventually help SLPs analyze therapy session data to identify what’s working and what needs tweaking.
One day, we could have systems that gives us ongoing feedback on which therapy strategies that we’ve tried are most effective for each client. This kind of insight could help SLPs refine our treatment methods for each client.
Predictive Analytics
Another way AI might help is through predictive analytics.
Advanced AI could analyze historical data from therapy sessions to predict future outcomes.
For example, if a client consistently struggles with a certain speech sound, AI could flag that pattern and suggest specific interventions backed by data. We’ll see how this goes as AI gets more advanced.
Real-Time Progress Monitoring
AI tools are already showing promise in real-time progress monitoring.
These tools can provide instant feedback on improvements or regressions in communication skills as they track each student’s progress over time. This would allow SLPs to quickly modify therapy plans as needed, at least in certain aspects of our field.
7. Gamification
Who doesn’t love a little fun while learning?
Gamification is becoming a huge motivator for people learning online, and now AI tools are bringing that fun into speech therapy—especially for kids.
AI can help make therapy less intimidating by making it more game-like. Kids (and even adults!) are more likely to stay focused and motivated when therapy feels like playtime. Plus, gamified therapy can help clients with anxiety forget that they are ‘working on their speech’!
The best part? All that fun can lead to better progress. Clients are more motivated, they stick with tasks longer, and their focus improves. It’s win-win.
8. Scheduling
This is probably one of the easiest ways for SLPs to start using AI!
Plenty of tools can help you manage your schedule, which is important for any SLP, but especially those who need to meet Individualized Education Program (IEP) requirements and stay organized.
These scheduling tools can help you juggle appointment times and therapy frequencies for each client, ensuring that no one slips through the cracks.
Automating reminders and tracking sessions reduces missed appointments and helps clients stay on track with their treatment plans.
I’m particularly interested in trying SLP Scheduler, which is designed for school-based SLPs, and SimplePractice, a scheduling tool that works for SLPs in private practice. Both tools promise to save time and keep your calendar running smoothly.
9. Assistive Technologies
AI is making assistive communication technologies more personalized, which is great news for both SLPs and clients!
AAC Devices
AI-powered Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices can adapt to users’ needs, preferences, and unique communication styles. These devices help users express themselves more naturally, which is so important.
One exciting tool is Vocable AAC, an app that uses AI to help individuals with physical challenges engage in conversation.
The app generates responses using AI and lets users control a cursor with subtle head movements—making it ideal for those with conditions like ALS or spinal cord injuries. It’s a major leap forward for people with physical limitations, allowing them to participate in conversations in ways they couldn’t before.
AI-based systems also help with dynamic word prediction in existing AAC apps and devices (such as TouchChat).
The use of AI in this area is just beginning, and it’s likely to change things in huge ways going forward.
Speech Readers for Nonstandard Speech
AI-powered speech readers can translate nonstandard speech into clear language for individuals with speech impairments, which is huge! This is amazing for anyone with dysarthria, where their speech may be difficult to understand.
A standout example is Voiceitt, an AI tool that recognizes and translates nonstandard speech patterns into understandable speech. I’m really excited about this one!
Voice Banking
For people with degenerative conditions like ALS, voice banking allows them to preserve their unique voice for future use in AAC devices.
AI helps users record samples of their voice, which it uses to create a synthetic version of their voice that can be used as their condition progresses. This helps the individuals and their families to maintain the emotional connection of hearing someone’s true voice.
Tools to look into for this include ModelTalker and Acapela Group’s my-own-voice.
10. Teletherapy
AI is making teletherapy more effective by giving therapists better technical quality and by improving the therapy experience itself.
One big advantage is that AI-powered platforms can significantly improve audio quality by cutting out background noise and clarifying voices so therapists and clients can communicate without interruptions.
Beyond just improving audio, AI tools can also analyze speech in real-time, providing immediate feedback. This allows therapists to make adjustments on the spot and reinforce correct speech patterns during the session.
Tools I’m looking into include Ambiki and TheraPlatform.
Virtual Reality (VR) Integration
Another interesting use of AI is the potential integration of Virtual Reality (VR) into speech therapy powered by AI.
VR can create immersive, interactive environments where clients can practice their speech skills in lifelike scenarios. VR lets clients engage in real-world activities in a safe, controlled setting.
Challenges and Considerations
While AI brings exciting advancements to speech-language pathology, there are definitely many challenges and concerns to address. Here’s a breakdown:
Limitations and Ethical Concerns
One major limitation of AI in clinical settings is the need for human oversight.
AI can process large amounts of data and offer useful insights, but it lacks the human qualities—like empathy and understanding—that SLPs provide. This means AI should assist, not replace, SLPs in making critical decisions about patient care.
Ethical concerns are also important, especially around data privacy and bias.
AI systems can unintentionally reinforce biases if they aren’t trained on diverse data, leading to unfair treatment for certain groups. To avoid this, make sure to have strong ethical guidelines in place to ensure AI is used fairly and responsibly.
Importance of Understanding AI Tools
For AI to truly help, SLPs need to understand how these tools work. Always make sure you evaluate AI-generated information within the context of your expertise.
AI should help you speed up and personalize your practice, not replace your own judgment.
So, stay informed and learn to use AI tools that work for SLPs!
The Future of SLP: Combining Expertise with AI
AI can now help in the field of speech-language pathology by offering innovative methods for more personalized and effective care.
Tools that automate paperwork, provide real-time feedback during therapy, and help with games and targets are designed to support your work, not replace it.
AI is actually going to be a great help to passionate, busy SLPs who are willing to try new things and learn a few new skills!
It’s nothing to be afraid of, as it can never replace the work of a trained communication professional. It’s up to us to learn to use AI to help us work faster and smarter, and not as a replacement for a real human being with empathy and clinical experience!
