The UK government plans to introduce facial age estimation technology at its borders, using AI to scan asylum seekers' faces and estimate their age. The move has raised concerns about the accuracy of the technology, which has been shown to be flawed in tests.
What Happened
An investigation by WIRED and Lighthouse Reports, in collaboration with The Independent, obtained an internal UK government report detailing its tests of facial age estimation technologies. The report found that the systems regularly mistake children for adults and appear to contain serious bias problems, which directly impact the largest group of migrants subject to age assessments in 2025.
The leaked Home Office document obtained by Lighthouse Reports largely details the "best" performing of seven facial age estimation algorithms that the department tested last year. The report found that the system performed significantly worse when it was used to estimate the ages of Sub-Saharan Africans compared to other groups. For female Sub-Saharan Africans, the age that the system guessed was off by an average of 4.6 years, meaning that a 13.5-year-old girl could be assessed as an 18-year-old adult.
Background and Context
The use of facial age estimation technology is not new to the online world. Many social media platforms, porn websites, and retailers have been mandated by lawmakers to check their users' ages using this technology. However, its introduction at borders marks a significant shift in its application.
Facial age estimation works by analyzing the features of someone's face, with the underlying systems trained on millions of age-labeled faces, to produce an estimated age. In controlled laboratory tests, the best algorithms can predict a person's age to within around 2.5 years. However, the results can vary wildly depending on the algorithm, a person's gender, demographic details, and other factors.
The Home Office has indicated that FAE technology would help immigration officers who are making age assessments while working at the point of first encounter. However, experts worry that any use of facial age estimation technology at borders will be "dehumanizing" for the people it impacts and could become normalized for staff.
Why It Matters to the Industry
The introduction of facial age estimation technology at borders raises concerns about its accuracy and bias. The technology has been shown to be flawed in tests, with a high error rate for certain demographics. This raises questions about its suitability for use in high-stakes scenarios such as asylum claims.
For the adult industry, this development is significant because it highlights the potential risks of relying on AI-powered age verification technologies. If these systems are flawed and biased, they could lead to inaccurate age assessments, which could have serious consequences for individuals.
What Comes Next
The UK government has announced that it will use facial age estimation technology at its borders from 2027. However, the Home Office has indicated that it is still exploring how to implement the technology in real-world environments and address the weaknesses in the systems.
Experts have raised concerns about the potential consequences of using this technology, including the risk of dehumanizing asylum seekers and normalizing its use for staff. The investigation by WIRED and Lighthouse Reports has highlighted the need for further research into the accuracy and bias of facial age estimation technologies before they are deployed in high-stakes scenarios.
Key Facts
- The UK government plans to introduce facial age estimation technology at its borders, using AI to scan asylum seekers' faces and estimate their age.
- The leaked Home Office document obtained by Lighthouse Reports found that the system performed significantly worse when it was used to estimate the ages of Sub-Saharan Africans compared to other groups.
- For female Sub-Saharan Africans, the age that the system guessed was off by an average of 4.6 years, meaning that a 13.5-year-old girl could be assessed as an 18-year-old adult.
- The Home Office has indicated that FAE technology would help immigration officers who are making age assessments while working at the point of first encounter.
- Experts have raised concerns about the potential consequences of using this technology, including the risk of dehumanizing asylum seekers and normalizing its use for staff.
The introduction of facial age estimation technology at borders raises significant concerns about its accuracy and bias. The adult industry should be aware of these developments and consider their implications for age verification technologies in general.
