Councils are quietly scrapping the use of computer algorithms in helping to make decisions on benefit claims and other welfare issues, the Guardian has found, as critics call for more transparency on how such tools are being used in public services. It comes as an expert warns the reasons for cancelling programmes among government bodies around the world range from problems in the way the systems work to concerns about bias and other negative effects. Most systems are implemented without consultation with the public, but critics say this must change. The use of artificial intelligence or automated decision-making has come into sharp focus after an algorithm used by the exam regulator Ofqual downgraded almost 40% of the A-level grades assessed by teachers. It culminated in a humiliating government U-turn and the system being scrapped.

Benefits claimants could soon be using robots to claim cash as the Government speeds up the development of an AI system by working with a billionaire tech boss who declared recently: 'I want a bot for every person'. The Department for Work and Pensions has employed more than 1,000 new IT staff and created an £8million-a-year'intelligent automation garage' to develop up to 100 new robots to help support Britain's welfare system - used by 7million people each year. The UK government is working with New York-based UiPath, co-founded by billionaire Daniel Dines, whose £7billion company is viewed as a future Google of robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Mr Dines' software is already used by Walmart, Toyota and many banks and now will help the DWP develop systems to check benefits claims with tech giants IBM, Tata Consultancy and Capgemini also involved. Developers believe a'virtual workforce' could handle simpler welfare cases and payments faster and with fewer mistakes than today - while more complicated cases would still be dealt with by human staff.

The UK's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is exploring the use of AI to judge whether benefit claims are true. An £8 million'intelligent automation garage' has been created by the DWP with the goal of developing up to 100 new robots to assist Britain's welfare system. The DWP is working with New York-based UiPath on the system, along with tech giants IBM, Tata Consultancy, and Capgemini. UiPath's systems are already being used by notable brands such as Walmart, Toyota, and several banks. Ultimately, the DWP is billing the new AI system as simplifying the welfare system in order to process and issue benefits payments faster.

One in three councils are using computer algorithms to help make decisions about benefit claims and other welfare issues, despite evidence emerging that some of the systems are unreliable. Companies including the US credit-rating businesses Experian and TransUnion, as well as the outsourcing specialist Capita and Palantir, a data-mining firm co-founded by the Trump-supporting billionaire Peter Thiel, are selling machine-learning packages to local authorities that are under pressure to save money. A Guardian investigation has established that 140 councils out of 408 have now invested in the software contracts, which can run into millions of pounds, more than double the previous estimates. The systems are being deployed to provide automated guidance on benefit claims, prevent child abuse and allocate school places. But concerns have been raised about privacy and data security, the ability of council officials to understand how some of the systems work, and the difficulty for citizens in challenging automated decisions.

In fact, the customer experience is now so good that the council and its service delivery partner, ENGIE, won'Best Application of Technology' at the UK Customer Satisfaction Awards 2016. The judges concluded that "work to develop the council's digital presence has been enormously successful, resulting in a vast improvement in customer service". North Tyneside and ENGIE worked with eforms specialist, IEG4, to create the new benefit claim process. Robotic process automation (RPA) enables one piece of software to talk to another piece of software whilst continuing to use the human user interface. In this case a software robot has been created and trained to do the repetitive work and processing involved in processing a housing benefit claim.