UK border authorities will use AI to verify asylum seekers’ age

United Kingdom border patrol officials are going to start using artificial intelligence (AI) to help estimate the age of asylum seekers who say they are children instead of adults, and vice versa.

Angela Eagle, Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, said on Tuesday that the government will be testing technology that assesses a person’s age by analyzing his or her facial features.

In a statement addressed to parliament, Minister Eagle said that the Home Office and the government have been exploring scientific and technological methods that could improve and assist the current process of determining the age of asylum seekers.

“Based on this work, we have concluded that the most cost-effective option to pursue is likely to be Facial Age Estimation, whereby AI technology, trained on millions of images where an individual’s age is verifiable, is able to produce an age estimate with a known degree of accuracy for an individual whose age is unknown or disputed,” the Minister wrote.

According to the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, Facial Age Estimation offers an easy way to estimate a person’s age, especially when he or she claims to be over or under 18.

“Early assessments suggest that Facial Age Estimation could produce workable results much quicker than other potential methods of scientific or technological age assessment, such as bone X-rays or MRI scans, but at a fraction of the cost, and with no requirement for a physical medical procedure or accompanying medical supervision,” she adds.

Minister Eagle has ordered a pilot to trial the age estimation technology. Testing will begin later this year. If all goes well, Facial Age Estimation technology could be fully integrated into the current age assessment system by 2026.

Earlier this week, the government and OpenAI announced a strategic partnership to “turbocharge” the development of AI in the United Kingdom.

The memorandum of partnership outlines plans to expand collaboration on AI, including scaling up security research and investment in more data centers, and implementing AI technology with public services.

“AI will be fundamental in driving the change we need to see across the country, whether that’s in fixing the National Health Service (NHS), breaking down barriers to opportunity, or driving economic growth,” Peter Kyle, Minister of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, said in a statement.

These investments in AI development are part of the UK’s plan to become a ‘world leader’ in AI.