Open Rights Group Accuses Home Office of Secret AI Use

The Open Rights Group released a report titled "Automated Discrimination: Unpacking the Digital Hostile Environment," alleging that the UK Home Office has secretly embedded artificial intelligence across its immigration systems. The report claims the government uses AI to detect sham marriages, determine the age of asylum seekers, scan the phones of new arrivals, and prioritize cases through the Identify and Prioritise Immigration Cases tool.

Supporting members of Parliament from the Labour, SNP, and Green parties argue these tools reduce complex human experiences to data points and replicate societal biases. Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy criticized the government for being reluctant to publish documents explaining how these tools function and how existing problems are addressed.

The Home Office denies that AI replaces human decision-makers, stating that trained caseworkers make all asylum decisions while AI tools only assist in navigating policy information and interview records. In response to these findings, the Open Rights Group is calling for a public register of government AI tools, a ban on undemocratic AI uses in asylum applications, and stricter regulation to prevent wider rollout.