PublicTechnology understands that the department’s directors general are working on the rollout of tech programmes that senior leaders believe have ‘a high likelihood of being scalable into the overall business’
The Department for Work and Pensions is to progress its trials of generative artificial intelligence technology with the imminent launch of five projects supported by the department’s most senior leaders, PublicTechnology can reveal.
On 1 August of this year, the DWP entered into an initial five-month contract with IBM to support the department in delivering “gen AI lighthouse projects” – referring to the ‘lighthouse’ programme set up by the department last year “to ‘test and learn’ in a safe and governed environment where all types of AI can be used to assist us in the delivery of our customer outcomes and department efficiencies”.
The text of the IBM contract – which can be extended for five further months, up to the end of May 2025 – reveals that the exploratory scheme is nearly ready to get underway with some significant trials of AI systems. These experiments will be supported by some of the organisation’s most senior managers – including those at director-general level. GOV.UK indicates that there are currently 10 DGs across the DWP, sitting just below permanent secretary Peter Schofield, and specialising in areas including corporate transformation, finance, people, and digital.
“We are scaling up our work in generative AI during this financial year,” the contract says. “We have identified a number of candidate areas and will launch five projects with DG sponsorship during the current financial year with the key test that they have a high likelihood of being scalable into the overall business.”
The agreement does not specify details of the projects to be launched – nor did the DWP provide this information when asked by PublicTechnology.
But, in late 2023, the then work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said that the lighthouse scheme was “exploring the use of AI in several use cases which include: trialling AI-enabled projects to complement the services work coaches provide to customers in job centres; trialling how AI can write, update, or organise code to address the current digital skills shortage in areas like software engineering; and trialling productivity tools for all colleagues to use, such as rapidly summarising policy documents or providing simple tools to gather information for frontline colleagues.”
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The department’s annual report for 2023-24 – which claimed that, during the year, the DWP had “rapidly and successfully tested multiple generative AI proofs of concept” – also provided three examples of new tools being trialled.
This included ‘Whitemail’, a technology that “scans documents and quickly identifies vulnerable customers, allowing DWP to fast track and intervene”, and ‘AIgent’, which supports agents administering Personal Independence Payments “by summarising evidence for inclusion in decision letters”. The ‘A-cubed’ system, meanwhile, “provides work coaches with quick access to advice to help to support customers move closer to the labour market”, the report said.
The text of the IBM contract – which will be worth £10.8m, inclusive of VAT, if it runs for its full potential term – states that the department “will be developing this new capability within our existing DWP Innovation Lab given that it has already begun work in this area”.
The contract says: “The lighthouse project will involve three aspects: steering from across the department – [because] it’s not just [about] digital; enablement – ensuring that we have the capabilities to make best use of the opportunity while guarding against its risks; [and] transformation – launching value-add digital projects. The programme will consider ethical, legal and commercial enablers and ensure that DWP continues with its overall strategy of keeping humans in the loop on any decision.”
To support this work, IBM will provide the DWP with “application development and integration” services.
During the coming months, the services to be provided by the tech firm will be set out in “a series of statements of works”. These specifications will cover “strategy and control”, “lighthouse” projects, and a minimum viable product for what appears to be a Generative AI Lab facility.
Despite such growing focus on generative AI, earlier this year PublicTechnology revealed that the DWP had, effectively, banned its employees from using the most famous examples of the technology – including ChatGPT – in the course of their work or via government-issued devices. It is understood that the department has opted, instead, to pursue the use of internal tools, largely based on Microsoft Copilot technology.
The department declined to comment for this article.
