Campaigners have slammed proposals by Tony Blair’s policy think tank to deploy Artificial Intelligence to run and police benefit payments.
The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change suggested that AI could effectively take over 40 per cent of tasks conducted by civil servants at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
It suggests this would allow the government department to cut costs, while eliminating fraud and errors, which currently run to billions of pounds a year.
However, privacy and welfare campaigners claim this would require the mass surveillance of the bank accounts of benefit recipients which would amount to “dangerous intrusion”.
The legal and policy officer at Big Brother Watch, Susannah Copson, said moves by the last Conservative government to allow government departments to access bank accounts to combat fraud and errors was killed off following a campaign involving human rights organisations and groups representing disabled people and the elderly.
However, she said a recent report from the Tony Blair think tank has backed a similar approach, which might now be taken up by the new Labour government.
Susannah Copson said: “There is a very real danger that AI systems, those akin to the previous government’s proposed welfare bank spying powers, could facilitate mass surveillance, leading to intrusive scrutiny of people’s lives.
“The right to privacy and the dignity of those in the welfare system cannot be sacrificed on the altar of supposed efficiency.
“The dangers of using AI at scale are even more alarming in high-risk environments like the welfare system, where mistakes can determine whether claimants can afford to feed themselves, heat their houses, or pay for essential medication.”
Writing in the Big Issue magazine, she warned: “Blindly embracing AI is dangerous, particularly when we consider the track record of automated systems in similar contexts.
“The systems used in the course of the Horizon scandal led to wrongful accusations against postmasters, many of whom were financially ruined and criminalised. A recent investigation found that 200,000 people have been wrongfully investigated for housing benefit fraud and error, all because of poor algorithmic judgment.”
She said that cutting thousands of staff in the DWP would also be a concern, adding: “The livelihoods of civil servants may not be of central concern to the public but taking human beings out of the delivery of services will have a bearing on those who receive them.”
In response to Tony Blair’s push to supercharge AI within the DWP, 13 groups from across the NGO sector have come together in an open letter to urge caution.
The signatories, representing a broad range of human rights, digital rights, disability rights, and anti-poverty organisations, highlight the serious risks AI poses in welfare – from mass surveillance and data exploitation to subjecting vulnerable people to the flaws and failures of unreliable algorithms.
The letter acknowledges the role that cutting edge technologies have but delivers a sharp warning against “magical thinking” when applying AI to complex systems.
She added: “At this scale, mistakes are almost inevitable – and when they happen, it’s the most vulnerable who will pay the price. Their message is clear: the potential dangers of AI in such a critical system far outweigh promises of efficiency.
“With welfare claimants already grappling with long wait times and wrongful fraud accusations, it is clear that DWP is facing serious operational challenges. However, automation won’t fix the deep-rooted issues that leads to these kinds of failings.
“When these systems go wrong, as they almost certainly always do, it will be people who are disabled, poor, and sick that find themselves on the wrong side of the algorithm.”
The Tony Blair Institute said: “We find that the DWP workforce could free up as much as 40 per cent of its time using AI tools. This is equivalent to a productivity gain of close to £1 billion a year.
“At the moment, the DWP’s operating model is bureaucratic and reliant on complicated forms and paperwork. It is labour-intensive, which means it struggles to respond to citizens’ changing needs, and beset by backlogs and delays. Fraud and error cost the department close to £9 billion a year.
“But a different model is possible. Harnessing AI tools represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to free up much-needed time and resources within the public sector.
“At the DWP, this would help it achieve its objectives: helping people move into work and progress in their careers, helping them plan financially for their futures (with a safety net for those who need it in the present) and providing high-quality services, all while ensuring value for money for the taxpayer.”
