Artificial Intelligence in Practice: BCBAs’ Attitudes, Concerns, and Needs

Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly become integral to daily tasks and has driven significant advancements in scientific research. Although AI's use outside medicine is still developing, its potential is clear, sparking interest in fields such as applied behavior analysis (ABA). Recent research has explored AI’s role in enhancing ABA interventions, from design and implementation to monitoring. Cox and Jennings (Cox and Jennings, Behavior Analysis in Practice 17:123–136, 2024) have raised important ethical questions regarding AI's role in ABA, highlighting the need for thorough examination. This study explored the attitudes, concerns, and needs of board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs) regarding using AI in practice. Overall, 111 BCBAs completed an online questionnaire. Findings highlighted BCBAs’ attitudes, concerns, and needs related to using AI in practice. In particular, BCBAs felt excitement about the potential contributions of AI to improve efficiency and reduce workload and burnout. They also raised concerns about the possible loss of individualization and risks for ethical and privacy issues. Finally, BCBAs expressed an urgent need to learn how to use AI effectively and ethically. Factors that influenced perceptions and the correlation among the BCBAs' attitudes, concerns, and needs were also identified.