Concerns grow as multiple AI projects at the DWP are halted, raising questions about the future of technology in welfare.
London: It turns out that several AI projects at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have been scrapped. This has welfare experts scratching their heads about the future of AI in the system.
Reports say at least six AI prototypes have been put on hold. These included tools meant to help with staff training, speed up disability payments, and improve communication.
Back in November, the DWP highlighted two projects as promising. One was Aigent, which aimed to speed up personal independence payments by summarizing evidence for decision letters.
The other was A-cubed, designed to give work coaches quick access to advice to help people find jobs. But now, it seems these tools won’t see the light of day.
There’s still one project, called ‘Whitemail,’ that’s in use. But it’s raising eyebrows because benefit claimants aren’t informed about it. This tool scans documents to identify vulnerable customers for quick intervention.
However, experts are worried about the lack of transparency. Meagan Levin from Turn2us pointed out that processing sensitive personal data without claimants’ knowledge is quite concerning.
The DWP claims that data is encrypted before it’s deleted, but the whole situation feels a bit murky. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer recently announced a plan to explore AI opportunities in the UK.
But not everything is going smoothly. Laura Gilbert from Whitehall’s Incubator for AI mentioned that there have been many hiccups and frustrations in rolling out these tools.
A government spokesperson said that these short-term projects are meant to test new technologies. They believe that even if some fail, the lessons learned can help in the future.
