Home Office knew AI age checks for migrant children were flawed — but will roll it out anyway
Home Office pushed AI migrant age tool despite racial bias warnings
- The Home Office proceeded with the rollout of an AI tool for age assessment of small boat migrants despite internal reports and independent audits revealing its significant flaws.
- The Facial Age Estimation (FAE) technology is shown to inaccurately identify teenagers as adults and exhibits “baked-in racial bias”, being least accurate for migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Error rates are particularly high for migrant girls from the region, with the technology potentially predicting a 14-year-old girl to be an adult.
- Scientific advisors to the Home Office claim the government rushed the adoption of the AI for political reasons and disbanded a committee to avoid criticism of the technology's inadequacies.
- Sixty organisations have sent an open letter urging the Home Office to halt the FAE rollout, citing its inherent failures, discrimination, and imprecision, particularly for those aged 16 to 18.
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