Benefits system automation could plunge claimants deeper into poverty

The UK government is accelerating the development of robots in the benefits system in a digitisation drive that vulnerable claimants fear could plunge them further into hunger and debt, the Guardian has learned. The Department for Work and Pensions has hired nearly 1,000 new IT staff in the past 18 months, and has increased spending to about £8m a year on a specialist "intelligent automation garage" where computer scientists are developing over 100 welfare robots, deep learning and intelligent automation for use in the welfare system. As well as contracts with the outsourcing multinationals IBM, Tata Consultancy and CapGemini, it is also working with UiPath, a New York-based firm co-founded by Daniel Dines, the world's first "bot billionaire" who last month said: "I want a robot for every person." His software, used by Walmart and Toyota, is now being deployed in a bid to introduce machine learning into checking benefit claims. The DWP is also testing artificial intelligence to judge the likelihood that citizens' claims about their childcare and housing costs are true when they apply for benefits.