Amnesty International has warned that the UK government’s “unchecked use” of technology and AI systems is leading to the exclusion of people with disabilities and other marginalised groups.

According to a report by the human rights organisation, those living in poverty or who have serious health problems are being left in a “bureaucratic limbo” due to the digital exclusion driven by the roll out of new technology.

The government is constantly testing AI and digital technologies for social security schemes such as universal credit, which Amnesty International said has created an inaccessible social security system for people who are already marginalised.

The organisation explained that many people requiring social security do not have access to digital technologies, internet or internet connected devices and their affordability coupled with language barriers and long waiting times for telephone services have led to digital exclusion from the Department for Work and Pension’s (DWP) systems.

Amnesty International said that the use of digital technologies combined with further cuts to the UK’s social security system after years of austerity has created a “perfect storm,” where pre-existing flaws are being exacerbated, and new problems linked to these new technologies are being created.

According to the report, automated systems and the use of AI in the assessment and provision of social security can introduce a significant risk of errors in decision making, due to biased or discriminatory algorithms, with serious consequences for claimants.

Digital exclusion can be experienced due to a person’s living conditions, educational attainment, health status, and income levels - complex factors which the organisation said are not always fully captured by automated social security systems.

Additionally, the report said that the digitised and sweeping data collection has also created an “all-seeing” social security system that impacts claimants’ rights to privacy, data protection, and human dignity.

Using extensive amounts of data to determine eligibility for state support is not new, but Amnesty International said the scale and the breadth of the data used, and the speed with which it is processed now is new and can bring with it new unintended consequences and human rights risks.

“The DWP’s mission to reduce ‘costs’ is the beating heart of fascination with, and overreliance on, problematic tech,” said Imogen-Richmond Bishop, researcher on technology, economic, social and cultural rights at Amnesty International. “People are struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table due to cuts in social security and yet the DWP is more concerned about experimental technologies to surveil claimants.

“The tech-enabled system to claim and manage welfare benefits is resulting in relentless dehumanisation and strain for people who are already wrestling to access their basic needs in a broken system.”

Amnesty International contacted the DWP ahead of the publication of the report, but the DWP declined to comment at the time of publication.

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