The U.K. Home Office faces a possible investigation into its use of artificial intelligence (AI) in asylum processing, following research that raises questions about accuracy, transparency and safeguards governing technology used to support consequential government decisions.

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The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has sought additional information from digital rights nonprofit Open Rights Group (ORG) as it develops next year’s inspection priorities, WIRED reported. The inspectorate has not confirmed an investigation, but acknowledged concerns about the tools and cited earlier findings that one system’s effectiveness and reliability varied.

The controversy stems from ORG’s report, “Automated Discrimination: Unpacking the Digital Hostile Environment.” Its six-month investigation drew on limited published information, 10 public records requests, 11 parliamentary questions and two ministerial letters. The Guardian reported that its findings extend beyond asylum processing to other Home Office uses of AI, including border surveillance and case prioritization.

At the center of the potential inspection are Asylum Case Summarisation, or ACS, and Asylum Policy Search, or APS. According to documents obtained by ORG, the tools use OpenAI’s GPT-4 model and Microsoft Foundry. ACS summarizes interview transcripts, while APS helps caseworkers find and summarize country policy information relevant to gauging asylum seekers’ risk of harm.

The Home Office began piloting the systems in late 2024. Government estimates indicated that using them together could save approximately an hour per case. But ORG’s findings suggest that efficiency gains have outpaced public explanations of how errors are identified, corrected and prevented from influencing decisions.

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