By Amina Memon, Zoe Given-Wilson, […], and Cornelius Katona 

This paper reviews the existing and emerging applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the context of asylum. The UK has a significant backlog in processing asylum claims. In June 2023, 215,500 asylum cases were ‘in progress’ with the UK Home Office with over half of these representing people awaiting an initial decision.1 Therefore, the identification of fair and effective strategies to speed up the process – including the mobilisation of AI based technologies – is critical. The evolving field of AI technologies encompassing machine learning, deep learning and artificial neural networks – could be a positively disruptive branch of data science. Its utilisation allows for improvements in the speed, efficiency and reliability of decision-making. Artificial Intelligence can identify patterns across large data sets and manipulate its own algorithms to increase its accuracy. This could assist with various stages of asylum processing, including information gathering, data sharing, planning, analysis and decision-making.2,3 The AI streamlining of asylum casework through real-time language translation, potentially enables efficient communication between applicants and officials regardless of language barriers thus saving costs on translation services. Artificial Intelligence can assist in translating and organising vast quantities of documents, such as personal testimonies or legal paperwork, ensuring accuracy and consistency across multiple languages. Advanced AI translation tools are also capable of learning from context, which may facilitate greater understandings of the nuances and cultural specifics of an applicant's narrative.

Medicine, Science and the Law Volume 64, Issue 2. 2024, 4pg