UK warned over lack of transparency on use of AI to vet welfare claims

Exclusive: Information commissioner tells government it risks contempt of court over response to freedom of information requests

The UK government risks contempt of court unless it improves its response to requests for transparency over the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to vet welfare claims, the information commissioner has said.

Over the past two years, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has increasingly deployed machine-learning algorithms to detect fraud and error in universal credit (UC) claims.