Reform vows to beat benefit cheats with AI to save taxpayers billions and use tech to help cut doc and nurses’ admin

A REFORM UK government would use AI software to “wage war” on benefit cheats, Robert Jenrick has vowed. The former Cabinet minister said harnessing the new technology could save the taxpayer billions. Reform UK Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Official government analysis found there is £45 billion worth of savings to be made per year if the public sector embraces AI Credit: Alamy “The British government is falling behind,” Mr Jenrick writes in today’s Sun on Sunday. “We’ll use AI software to wage war on benefit cheats and save the taxpayer billions. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! “And we will unashamedly deploy AI to cut the admin work of doctors and nurses so they spend more time on the wards treating patients.” Official government analysis recently found there is £45 billion worth of savings to be made per year if the public sector embraces AI. But experts warn Britain is failing to make the most of the tech revolution with countries like Singapore soaring ahead. Research by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change found that using AI tools in the Department for Work and Pensions could free up as much as 40 per cent of staff time – a productivity gain of almost £1 billion a year. Karen McLuskie, TBI’s Technology Senior Policy Advisor, said: “The AI revolution in Whitehall should be about much more than writing memos faster. “Used properly, AI can transform the machinery of government – stripping out bureaucracy, freeing civil servants from repetitive admin and making public services faster, more personalised and more responsive to people’s needs. Most read in The Sun “The prize is a state that is cheaper to run, quicker to respond and works better for the public.” Neil Ross, Partner at Public First, said the UK had centres of excellence in the public sector like the watchdog AI Security Institute. But he added: “Once you go beyond the very centre of government our research found the UK’s use of AI in the public sector sits in the middle of the pack, ahead of other European countries, but behind world leaders like Singapore. “The big difference here is not whether our public servants are using AI, they are, but how they are using it.” He said Singaporean public servants view AI as a way to provide citizens with 24/7 personalised access to services they need. But in Britain, it is used as a tool to help draft emails faster and check for mistakes. A Government spokesperson said: “AI offers huge opportunities for Britain’s economic growth, and the Cabinet Secretary and First Secretary of State are working together to transform the use of tech and AI in the Civil Service. “The new National School of Government and Public Services will drive forward AI skills training for the Civil Service workforce, ensuring we can adopt new technology safely and ethically.” Comment now