An example of AI processing failure is that AI finds the first matching match and progresses no further in the file. There are warning in films like Terminator and I Robot in regard to AI no ability to make correct decision, yet the service is ion trials in five councils.
Sign in – Beam Notes does a parent know that a social worker is hitting a button on magic notes sand this is becoming their assessment report for the social worker. This would work exactly what the report shows and stop halfway through.
Magic Notes is an AI system made by a company called Beam. It records conversations, turns speech into text, drafts reports and structures information for social workers. Now, it’s not supposed to decide whether to remove a child but it does feed into assessments through the reports it helps to generate. That’s where all your concerns about accuracy and missing evidence get really serious.
I found four councils with published evidence of AI being used, piloted or commissioned specifically in children’s social care.
- North Yorkshire Council — developed an AI system using Microsoft Azure to search children’s case records, analyse information and identify relationships between children and families. The Local Government Association published its case study on 3 February 2025. This was a proof of concept. Local Government Association
- Somerset Council — trialled Magic Notes with 20 staff in children’s social care and related business operations, then announced a wider rollout. The software creates reports and case notes from recorded conversations. Somerset Council
- St Helens Borough Council — piloted Magic Notes between November 2024 and January 2025, including children’s social care staff. In November 2025, it announced a wider rollout to 450 frontline staff. St Helens Borough Council
- Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council — approved a contract in August 2025 for 12,000 hours of annual Magic Notes use across adult and children’s services. The intended uses include assessments, case notes and strategy meetings. Tameside Council
North Somerset Council also reported a Magic Notes pilot in children’s services in 2025, with broader deployment under consideration. North Somerset Council
These are documented examples, not a complete national register. In March 2026, the Department for Education acknowledged that it had limited information about where and how AI was being used in children’s social care and launched a call for evidence. Consultation Hub
The important distinction is that these sources establish AI involvement in case recording, information retrieval and assessment preparation. They do not establish that any of these councils allows AI to independently decide whether to remove a child.
North Yorkshire’s project is especially relevant to your concern about evidence being overlooked because it specifically involves searching children’s historical records and identifying relationships within case files.
I found four councils with published evidence of AI being used, piloted or commissioned in children’s social care. North Yorkshire did a proof of concept using AI to search and analyse children’s case records. Somerset and St. Helens have both rolled out Magic Notes after pilots including children’s social care, and Tameside has approved a contract for Magic Notes across children and adults’ services. Those are documented uses, but that doesn’t show AI deciding whether children are removed. The Department for Education
Some councils delete the recording after 30 days so they cannot even challenge the recording as it will be deleted.
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