UK to Deploy Facial Age-Estimation AI at Borders Despite Known Accuracy Flaws

The UK is preparing to introduce facial age estimation (FAE)—where artificial intelligence analyzes facial features to predict age—as a tool for assessing arriving asylum seekers starting next year. This marks what appears to be the first government deployment of such technology at a border for this purpose.

The stakes are high: without age documentation, asylum seekers incorrectly classified as adults risk losing legal protections and facing detention in adult facilities. An investigation by WIRED and Lighthouse Reports revealed that a leaked Home Office internal report tested seven different FAE systems and documented significant performance gaps.

The Accuracy Problem#

The testing results show alarming disparities. For female asylum seekers from Sub-Saharan Africa—the largest demographic group subject to age assessments in 2025—the AI's age estimates were off by an average of 4.6 years. This means a 13-year-old girl could be flagged as an adult. The system performed substantially better when assessing other demographic groups, suggesting built-in bias in the algorithms tested.

The Home Office report examined the "best" performing system among those tested but did not disclose which companies developed the technologies.

Broader Context#

This deployment arrives as age verification increasingly becomes a requirement across digital platforms, from social media restrictions in Australia to pornography age gates in US states. However, pushing this technology into high-stakes immigration decisions—where errors directly harm vulnerable people with little awareness of how the system works or ability to challenge results—represents a significant escalation of its use.