The United Kingdom plans to deploy an artificial intelligence-based age estimation system at its borders from next year to help identify adult migrants who may be posing as children, according to a report by BBC News.

The system, developed by a private software company under a contract with the UK Home Office, will analyze photographs taken at border points to estimate a person’s age.

Authorities say the tool is intended to improve the accuracy of initial age assessments for asylum seekers.

The Home Office said early testing showed “promising performance and accuracy” and argued the technology would help identify individuals attempting to “game the system” by claiming to be minors.

The plan has drawn criticism from human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, which urged the UK government to abandon the project.

The group described the system as “unproven technology” that could undermine protections for vulnerable children seeking asylum.

Under current UK policy, unaccompanied child migrants are placed under the care of local councils and granted specific legal protections, including access to support services and a different asylum process compared with adults.

The move comes amid a continued rise in asylum applications linked to small boat crossings across the English Channel. According to official figures cited in the report, more than 111,000 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending June 2025.

Government data also shows that in the year ending March 2026, more than 6,400 individuals claiming to be children were subject to age assessments at the border, with 43% found to be adults.

A previous government inspectorate report warned that age determination is inherently uncertain, noting that errors can occur in both directions, misclassifying adults as children and vice versa, due to the lack of a definitive scientific test.

The UK government previously announced plans to integrate AI-based facial estimation tools into border screening systems as part of broader efforts to strengthen asylum processing and reduce errors in age classification.

Officials maintain that the technology will complement, not replace, human decision-making, although critics continue to question its reliability and potential human rights implications.

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