AI facial recognition, which will be used to spot adult migrants pretending to be children, has been criticised by human rights campaigners.A Harlow-based software firm, Akhter Computers LTD, has been awarded a new contract by the Home Office to develop the technology this week. The company are set to test and develop AI technology to be able to estimate a person's age by assessing images taken of them at the border. It comes as the Home Office declared the tech will make it easier to spot adult migrants who are trying to 'game the system'. The government department also said initial testing suggested 'promising performance and accuracy'.But the tech, which is set to be introduced in mid-2027, has faced criticism from the Human Rights Watch, who want the scheme axed altogether. They have argued that the technology is 'unproven' and poses a risk to protections in place for vulnerable children. Migrant children who arrive on British shores unaccompanied are placed in the care system as opposed to the asylum system, which can be an easier path to staying in the UK. The scheme, which will cost £322,000 over three years, comes as small boat migrant crossings of the English Channel and asylum claims continue to rise. In the year ending June 2025, 111,084 claimed asylum in the UK - an increase of over 14 per cent when compared to the year prior. A group of people arriving at the Border Security Command compound in Dover, Kent on May 27, 2027 It comes as the Home Office has awarded a contract to a tech firm to develop AI facial recognition to determine the age of migrants arriving at the English ChannelMeanwhile, more than 6,400 migrants claiming to be children were assessed for their age at the border, with nearly half found to be adults in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office.Last year, a report, conducted by the UK government's independent immigration inspector discovered there were several incidents where both migrant children and adults were classed in the incorrect age group.It also concluded that it was 'inevitable that some age assessments will be wrong' in the absence of a 'foolproof' testing method. It added that the current room for error in age assessments of migrants was 'a cause for concern' particularly in incidents where children were denied rights and protections 'to which they are entitled'. The Home Office has been testing the tech on various images of people from different gender and ethnicities, including those of asylum seekers, in its system. However, the results have not yet been used to determine the outcome of any live cases. The tech is anticipated to be tested in asylum seeker cases at a processing centre in Dover, Western Jet Foil, next year. Currently, trained immigration enforcement officers carry out age assessment using various procedures such as X-rays, MRI scans and documents. However the UK government has since determined the AI recognition was the most 'cost-effective option' of analysing an asylum seeker's age. It has been met with opposition from human rights campaigners, who have called on the Home Office 'to scrap' the 'deeply flawed' scheme.