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A.I. making decisions on benefit claims?
Oliver Dowden (Deputy Prime Minister) interviewed on the Today Programme, BBC Radio 4, was asked if government costs could be saved using A.I. He gave the example of processing benefit claims, stating that a person could manage 6 claims in a day where A.I. gets it done in 20 mins.. Isn’t that good?
I had a letter about my Winter Fuel Payment the other day confidently asserting that I don’t live with anyone else who qualifies. My partner qualifies for the first time this year.
Lo and behold, on the second page “This decision is based solely on automated processing”. But obviously I have to tell them if it’s incorrect.
The conversation I then had when I rang them is a whole other story.
It’s not a problematic proposition on a theoretical level. However, what politicians are so keen to forget is that the tech isn’t actually at a functioning level yet. It’s a bit like setting off down a hill just after the wheel has been invented - there is an absurd lack of testing and safeguarding.
I was under the impression you could object if any decision is made about you on a purely automated basis? That’s why DWP have been generally keen to emphasise a human presence in all decisions.
I was under the impression you could object if any decision is made about you on a purely automated basis? That’s why DWP have been generally keen to emphasise a human presence in all decisions.
Yes - hence the note at the bottom of Rosie’s letter.
On a UC claim, the calculation is broadly automatic but checked over by a Case Manager so you do not get that right.