Warning UK ministers are putting interests of Big Tech ahead of public on AI

Ministers are putting the interests of Big Tech ahead of the public by spending billions on AI and not being transparent about its use, MPs and rights groups have warned.

The UK public sector has awarded more than 2,000 contracts for AI-related projects since 2018, totalling around £5bn of potential spending, according to analysis by consultancy Tussell.

While the cutting-edge tech has the ability to bring huge advantages in areas such as health, campaigners and MPs have warned that the government’s adoption of AI is opaque and unaccountable.

Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, said that reports of efficiencies gained by using AI remain largely unproven, with the public “kept in the dark about how systems affect them”.

The Independent has reported on the problems with using AI facial age estimation technology on migrants, something the Home Office is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds to introduce at the UK border.

The UK government is also already using AI to make decisions about policing, housing and Universal Credit and asylum claims. For example, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been using machine learning to flag benefit claims as potentially fraudulent, however older claimants and non-UK nationals were being over referred for review, the National Audit Office said.

Elsewhere in the public sector, NHS England has come under scrutiny for a £330m contract with US-firm Palantir to link-up patient data across different locations.

The mayor of London Sadiq Khan blocked a £50m deal between the Met Police and Palantir in June this year, after questions were raised about how the US firm won the contract.

In a new paper published on Thursday, the Open Rights Group argue that government partnerships with private companies risk abuses of power.

Liberal Democrat MP, Victoria Collins, who has written a foreword for the report, said the “burden of identifying and challenging harmful AI systems must not fall to individual members of the public”, adding: “That responsibility belongs to the government and to the industry with which it partners”.

Dr Allison Gardner, Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, said: “AI has the potential to benefit society and bring huge advances in areas such as health, but also to automate inequality and discrimination and harms.

“Clear regulation is vital so that the public can trust these technologies, particularly when used by the state in ways that affect their lives.”

The report calls on ministers to ensure that impact assessments are done of the AI system’s used before they are rolled out, as well as proposing regular audits by experts on AI algorithms in use.

Mr Killock added: “The government is putting the interests of Big Tech ahead of the British public in spending billions on AI systems, which it claims will create efficiencies.

“There are no effective and coherent and mandatory rules to ensure these systems respect human rights. The public is being kept in the dark about how systems affect them. We urgently need AI regulation that puts transparency, accountability and the public interest first, protecting human rights and ensuring AI works for all of us.”

A government spokesperson said: “We are actively shaping the UK AI market using grants, investments and contracts to support British capability and competition.

"Through our new £100 million Sovereign AI R&D Procurement Scheme, we are helping British AI companies tackle some of the country’s biggest challenges, improve public services and compete globally.

"We publish information explaining how and why algorithmic tools are used and have developed clear frameworks to ensure AI is used safely and responsibly across government, with people remaining in control of final decisions.”