Summary
An artificial intelligence (AI) tool helped the UK government recover nearly £500 million lost to fraud over the past year, with a significant portion related to the Covid-19 pandemic. This tool will be offered to other countries like the US and Australia, but some groups worry about the government's use of AI. The Cabinet Office says this recovery is the largest ever by the government’s anti-fraud teams in a single year.
Key Facts
- The AI tool helped the UK government recover almost £500 million lost to fraud.
- £186 million of the recovered money was related to fraud during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The AI tool will be licensed for use in other countries, including the US and Australia.
- The government plans to use the recovered money to hire more nurses, teachers, and police officers.
- The recovered amount is the largest ever reclaimed by UK government anti-fraud teams in a single year.
- Critics have raised concerns about the government's use of AI, highlighting potential biases found in previous AI tools.
- The AI tool, called the Fraud Risk Assessment Accelerator, can identify weaknesses in new policies before they are used.
- An anti-fraud summit involving the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand will discuss these findings.
