The UK is preparing to introduce artificial intelligence-driven facial age estimation at its borders from 2027, marking a significant shift in how authorities assess the age of asylum seekers in disputed cases.
Rather than relying solely on traditional age assessment procedures, the new system will analyse facial images captured at processing centres to estimate whether an individual is likely a child or an adult.
The technology is currently under development following a government contract awarded to IT supplier Akhter Computers Ltd, with further testing planned before live deployment.
The Home Office says the system is designed to strengthen decision-making in cases where age is unclear or disputed.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum Alex Norris said the technology targets abuse of the system, arguing that false age claims can undermine child protection frameworks.
“Adult migrants making false age claims have exploited the system and diverted vital support away from children at risk,” Norris said. “That is why we are rolling out AI technology… ensuring those who game the system are identified.”
Officials say the AI tool will not operate independently but will instead function alongside existing procedures in which border officers make initial assessments based on documents and interviews, while social workers are involved when disputes arise.
Government data suggests age disputes remain a persistent challenge, with thousands of cases assessed annually and a significant share of claimants later determined to be adults. Authorities say this creates pressure on child protection systems and contributes to inconsistent allocation of resources.
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The introduction of AI screening is being positioned by officials as part of a wider effort to standardise age assessment outcomes and reduce reliance on subjective judgment in complex cases.
However, the move has raised concern among child welfare professionals and advocacy groups, who argue that introducing automated systems into safeguarding decisions risks shifting responsibility away from trained experts.
The British Association of Social Workers warned that age determination requires professional judgement that cannot easily be replaced by automated tools.
“Assessing the ages of migrants is a complex process which social workers are best placed to do,” said Professor Sam Baron, interim chief executive of BASW. He cautioned that relying on AI could introduce “major safeguarding risks” if decisions are incorrect.
Human rights organisations have also criticised the planned rollout, arguing that facial age estimation technology has not been sufficiently validated for use in asylum systems.
Anna Bacciarelli, a senior AI researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the approach raises serious ethical concerns.
“The government needs to scrap this deeply flawed approach,” she said, describing the use of experimental tools in child protection decisions as “cruel and unconscionable.”
She added that while similar technologies are already used in commercial environments such as retail age checks, their application in asylum processing presents a fundamentally different level of risk due to the legal and humanitarian consequences of errors.
Official figures show tens of thousands of asylum applications each year, with a notable proportion involving disputed age claims. Independent oversight reports have also highlighted inconsistencies in manual assessments, noting that both overestimation and underestimation of age occur under current methods.
Authorities have acknowledged that no method of age verification is entirely error-free, but maintain that combining human judgment with technological tools could improve consistency.
The AI system is expected to undergo live trials in 2027 at border processing facilities, where it will be evaluated alongside existing safeguarding procedures before any wider rollout is considered.
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