Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.
The UK government has reportedly recouped nearly £500m in fraudulent funds over the past year, thanks to a new artificial intelligence tool aimed at tackling fraud, according to the BBC. A significant portion of the recovered funds were linked to fraudulent activities during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as illicit council tax claims and unauthorized subletting of social housing. The government is set to announce the licensing of this AI tool to other countries, such as the US and Australia.
Critics have previously raised concerns about the use of AI by the Labour government to combat fraud. However, the Cabinet Office stated that the £480m reclaimed in the 12-month period ending April 2024 represents the largest sum ever recovered by government anti-fraud teams in a single year. The funds retrieved will reportedly be allocated towards hiring additional nurses, teachers, and police officers.
Specifically, £186m of the total reclaimed amount was related to fraud involving the pandemic. Ministers have pledged to recover some of the finances lost during this period, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves previously asserting that over £7bn of public money was fraudulently misappropriated. Notably, these efforts also included preventing numerous potentially fraudulent companies that received Bounce Back Loans from avoiding repayment by dissolving.
Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons is expected to unveil these savings at an anti-fraud summit involving the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The government’s use of cutting-edge AI and data tools is deemed crucial in safeguarding public funds and preventing exploitation by scammers and fraudsters. The Fraud Risk Assessment Accelerator, developed by Cabinet Office researchers, is set to be deployed across various government departments to enhance fraud prevention measures. Despite these advancements, concerns have been raised by advocacy groups regarding the government’s utilization of AI, particularly in cases where bias has been identified in welfare fraud crackdowns
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.