UK authorities are using AI tools to drive a controversial early prisoner release scheme that will see some 4,500 people leave before the sentence end date.
The scheme has already seen the release of 1,350 people in two tranches in October and will see additional monthly releases through to next summer.
The National Audit Office reported on Wednesday on the key role the efficiency gains of AI is playing. It said Justice Transcribe was speeding up probation service decisions in the early release process.
The Institute for Government think tank said this weekend the flagship government policy was in endangered by chokepoints in probation.
In its report the IFG warned that early-release exemptions and shrinking cell margins could "wipe out capacity buffers, forcing emergency measures before new cells are built".
"Recent policy changes have put prisons back at risk of running out of spaces, while probation is struggling to manage offenders in the community," it said.
The framework of the policy relies heavily on the work of sentence management changes. According to the IFG those released after serving a third of their sentence in prison will be subject to ‘intensive supervision’ in the community for the second third of their sentence. This includes rules on wearing an electronic monitoring tag until they are three fifths of the way through their sentence. It is only in the final third of their sentence that the offenders will not be actively supervised.
The NAO report said the AI introduction across the service had left more time available for activities that directly contribute to managing the exiting prisoners and their impact on society. "This makes more time available for activities that directly contribute to public protection and rehabilitation," the statement said.
Opposition spokesmen have criticised the government for pursuing the overcrowding policy saying it had left hardened criminals laughing at victims.
"Labour said all the prisoners they are freeing would be tagged," said Nick Timothy, the Conservative Party justice spokesman. "Now they refuse to say how many have been, and are covering up the data. I forced them to come to Parliament yesterday but they still wouldn’t answer.
"I have called on the Justice Secretary to come clean."