Britain Launches Digital Passport And Robots Answering Questions (Worthy News Focus)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

LONDON (Worthy News) – The British government wants citizens to carry a digital version of their passport, driving license, social benefits account, and marriage and birth certificates on their smartphones “in tune with modern life.”

Those who are less enthusiastic about these plans or ask questions will soon be able to express their feelings to a robot, a “chatbot.”

Peter Kyle, the secretary of state for science, innovation, and technology, confirmed that a new application, or app, will be launched this year to “simplify” interactions with government services.

“The overflowing drawer rammed with letters from the government and hours spent on hold to get a basic appointment will soon be consigned to history,” he said.

Kyle pledged that the GOV.UK Wallet, which will launch for all smartphones, including Apple and Google devices, would enable users to “securely” store government-issued documents on their phones.

The minister stressed that the documents could be accessed immediately instead of waiting for physical versions to arrive in the mail.

He explained that the digital wallet will use smartphone security features, such as facial recognition, to help protect users’ personal data.

Veteran cards for former military personnel will be the first documents supported, followed by a pilot for mobile driver’s licenses “later in 2025.”

BROADER PLAN

It is part of a broader government plan to provide digital alternatives for paper or card credentials by 2027.

The government said physical copies of official documents would be available as long as they were necessary for use abroad.

Kyle said: “We’re keeping a close eye on international standards. When those standards become clearer then, of course, you have the government that would aspire to be able to benefit from it [the digital version] as much as possible.”

Worthy News previously reported about international initiatives for a global digital identity system.

The digital wallet will be sufficient to prove a person’s status, such as age, when clubbing or buying alcohol.

Other examples include a person who receives benefits using a digital wallet to claim welfare discounts or the ability to drive a car.

It remained to be seen whether elderly people already struggling to adapt to the post-typewriter age would share the Labour government’s enthusiasm about the digitalization process.

EASIER ACCESS?

However, Kyle countered that people under 18, who grew up with smartphones, view government today and a paper-based bureaucracy as backward.

“Making government services more online does not mean that those people who can’t access the internet will be left behind,” he stressed.

“In fact, what we are discovering is that the more we make online services easier to access … we as a government can start focusing human resources on those people’s needs and can only interact in a human way … We will deliver public services that are more human, not less,” the minister claimed.

Kyle rushed to allay fears over data breaches, saying the app’s design was “very comfortably within existing data law.”

Officials promised that losing a phone would not mean losing the wallet, as “there will be systems to enable recovery.”

Yet those complaining about the system may have to express their view to a robot: There are plans to add a “chatbot” powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to the digital wallet called “GOV.UK Chat.”

It would replace people, including expensive consultants, who would create “ways to make payments and receive timely notifications” for government services.

HUMPHREY CHARACTER

Officials say the chatbot would “help people find answers to complex and niche questions.” It would also save up to 100,000 pounds (over $120,000) from taxpayers that outside consultants reportedly charge for a simple report gaging public sentiments.

Earlier, it was announced that civil servants would have access to an artificial intelligence colleague named Humphrey, after a character in the classic sitcom Yes, Minister, which aired on BBC television in the 1980s.

Tim Flagg, chief operating officer of trade body UKAI, welcomed the initiative but added the name risked “undermining” the government’s mission to embrace the tech.

“Humphrey, for me, is a name which is very associated with the Machiavellian character from Yes, Minister,” said Flagg.

“That immediately makes people who aren’t in that central Whitehall office think that this is something which is not going to be empowering and not going to be helping them.”

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