Revealed: Government using AI to decide on benefits and driving licences

Civil servants are relying on AI to make decisions around welfare, immigration and criminal justice

Government officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) to help decide on everything from approving marriage licences to who should be given benefits, it has been revealed.

Civil servants in at least eight Whitehall departments, and several police forces, are relying on AI to make decisions around welfare, immigration and criminal justice, according to an investigation.

The shocking findings include the use of an algorithm by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to identify potential benefit fraud.

It also found a facial recognition tool used by the Metropolitan Police can make more mistakes recognising black faces than white ones.

And it showed an algorithm used by the Home Office to detect fake marriages targeted some nationalities disproportionately.

The investigation, carried out by The Guardian, showed that at least eight Whitehall departments use AI in one way or another, some far more heavily than others.

The NHS has also relied on AI in some contexts, including during the pandemic to identify at-risk patients who should shield.

And the Home Office is using it for its “sham marriage tool”, which the Guardian said disproportionately flags up people from Albania, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria.

It also uses the technology for electronic passport gates at airports and in the passport application process.

And the DWP has used AI to detect fraud and error among benefits claimants.

Marion Oswald, a professor in law at Northumbria University and a former member of the government’s advisory board on data ethics, told the paper: “There is a lack of consistency and transparency in the way that AI is being used in the public sector. A lot of these tools will affect many people in their everyday lives, for example those who claim benefits, but people don’t understand why they are being used and don’t have the opportunity to challenge them.”

In a sign of the government’s growing adoption of AI, ministers in August allocated a £13m investment aimed at advancing research in the technology’s use within healthcare.

The move, announced by Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, coincides with the appointment of two leading experts tasked with leading the preparations for the upcoming first major international summit on the responsible use of AI.

Rishi Sunak is attempting to pit Britain as a world leader in the development and regulation of AI.