Banks, SarahBertotti, TeresaForlenza, DariaGemara, NetanelReimer, ElizabethSegal, MichalShears, JaneSobocan, Ana M.Strom, KimberlyÚriz Pemán, María JesúsYamaguchi, Mai2025-07-042025-07-042025-06-16Banks, S., Bertotti, T., Forlenza, D., Gemara, N., Reimer, E., Segal, M., Shears, J., Sobocan, A. M., Strom, K., Úriz, M. J., Yamaguchi, M. (2025). Slow ethics in an age of fast technology: the ethical implications of Industry 4.0 for social work. Ethics and Social Welfare, 19(2), 137-155. https://doi.org/10.1080/17496535.2025.2512949.1749-653510.1080/17496535.2025.2512949https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/54392This paper brings together a range of perspectives on the ethicalimplications for social work of the growing use of digital technologies, big data, artificial intelligence and other features of 'Industry 4.0' (the fourth industrial revolution). Drawing on contributions to a workshop co-organised by the Ethics and Social Welfare journal, contributors explore: the nature and importance 'slow ethics' in an age of fast technological developments; ethical challenges for social work with the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, which outlaws digital communications; the empowering effect of online meetings for a young person in Italy; and the possibilities and limitations of using algorithms in mental capacity assessments and in ethical decision-making more broadly. Stimulated by these examples, the concluding discussion considers how to maintain a person-centred approach in social work, being pro-active in developing positive uses and resisting the de-humanising and exclusionary impacts of digital technologies.application/pdfeng© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License, which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in anymedium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.Social workSlow ethicsIndustry 4.0Digital technologyArtificial intelligence (AI)info:eu-repo/semantics/article2025-07-04info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess