Ministers have revealed that, following extensive review of possible options, border operations will soon begin trials of automated tools that government believes can accurately, quickly, and cheaply estimate someone’s age

Artificial intelligence technology that is designed to scan a person’s face and estimate their age could be “fully integrated” into asylum and immigration processes next year, a minister has claimed.

According to border security minister Dame Angela Eagle, in recent months, the Home Office has performed various analyses and tests of potential methods of age-estimation, with the aim of finding a way “to ensure that adults entering the asylum or immigration system are not wrongly identified as children, or vice versa”.

“Based on this work, we have concluded that the most cost-effective option to pursue is likely to be facial age estimation, whereby AI technology – trained on millions of images where an individual’s age is verifiable – is able to produce an age estimate with a known degree of accuracy for an individual whose age is unknown or disputed,” Eagle added, in a recent written parliamentary statement. “In a situation where those involved in the age assessment process are unsure whether an individual is aged over or under 18, or do not accept the age an individual is claiming to be, facial age estimation offers a potentially rapid and simple means to test their judgements against the estimates produced by the technology.”

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Having reached this conclusion about the efficacy of the AI system, Eagle said that she has “commissioned further work to test and trial this technology, with testing due to begin later this year”.

The Home Office has also undertaken a market-engagement exercise with potential commercial providers, and expects to formally open bidding on a contract in the next couple of weeks. Via this agreement, government believes that “subject to the results of further testing and assurance, facial age estimation could be fully integrated into the current age-assessment system over the course of 2026”, according to the minister.

Eagle added that the AI platforms in question have progressed significantly in recent years – and also offer major financial upsides, compared with alternatives.

“The quality of this technology has improved rapidly, and is continuing to evolve and improve as it becomes more widely adopted by online retailers, social media websites and other companies to conduct online age verification tests,” she said. “Early assessments suggest that facial age estimation could produce workable results much quicker than other potential methods of scientific or technological age assessment, such as bone X-rays or MRI scans, but at a fraction of the cost, and with no requirement for a physical medical procedure or accompanying medical supervision.”