DWP boss shares important payment advice for new and existing benefit claimants as changes begin

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The secretary of State for Work and Pensions has explained how Artificial Intelligence (AI) will help speed up processing times for benefit claims, allowing more time for “in-depth conversions” with customers.

In a new video posted on social media, Mel Stride MP said that he wants the UK welfare system to “be the best in the world”.Mr Stride said the use of “clever” AI will cut processing times for benefit claims from several hours to “just a few minutes” but he stressed that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) “does not use AI to replace human judgement when it comes to the payment of a claim.

He added that the final decision on any claim is always taken by a human.In the video posted on Twitter, the DWP boss said: “I want our welfare system to be the best in the world, to be there for those who need help most and that’s why we’re investing in Artificial Intelligence or AI to improve our accuracy and efficiency.”He continued: “For example, processing a claim used to take several hours, with clever automation this can now be done in just a few minutes, freeing up time for our team to have more in-depth conversations with customers.“We’ve developed technology that allows us to analyse tens of thousands of communications that we receive every day, allowing us to identify the most vulnerable so that we can target our support.

And my department is leading the way with AI, exploring how it can help us do even more to ensure more value for the taxpayer.”He added: “But to be clear - DWP does not use AI to replace human judgement when it comes to the payment of a claim.