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 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.

Government's largest department is among Whitehall's most forward-thinking in its use of robotics and automation. The Department for Work and Pensions established its Intelligent Automation Garage (IAG) in 2017. The goal of the unit, which is based across the DWP's Manchester and Newcastle offices, was exploring how artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotic process automation could best be used to improve the department's operations. The DWP believed that automating certain processes could improve productivity and outcomes, and free up staff time to be dedicated to things other than fulfilling administrative tasks. As of February 2019, the department had implemented automation in 15 processes and was planning to launch another 11 automations over the course of this year.