Charities decry UK plan to use AI to assess age of young asylum seekers (www.theguardian.com)

A coalition of over a hundred refugee children’s organizations has raised alarms over the UK Home Office's recent decision to implement AI facial age estimation technology for assessing the ages of young asylum seekers. This controversial move aims to prevent adults from falsely claiming to be minors to exploit support systems, but the coalition argues it may endanger genuine minors by wrongly categorizing them as adults, potentially leading to detention in adult facilities. They emphasize that many young asylum seekers face complexities due to trauma and under-nutrition, making AI assessments unreliable. The Home Office's contract with Akhter Computers Ltd, worth £322,000, is set to enhance the accuracy of these assessments by analyzing facial photographs of small-boat arrivals at Dover before broader deployment in 2027. However, experts warn that the technology may inherit biases and inaccuracies similar to human assessments, risking further harm to vulnerable children. They advocate for the use of AI in an advisory capacity, supplemented by traditional assessments conducted by trained social workers, to ensure that the nuances affecting a young person’s appearance and age are duly considered.