Based on Google Vision technology, an algorithmic tool is being used to check whether photos submitted with applications for funding have already been used elsewhere or cribbed from the internet
Government organisations administering grant funding for electric vehicle charging points have deployed artificial intelligence image-recognition technology to help crack down fraud.
EV chargepoint grants – which offer government backing of up to £500 per socket – can be applied for via the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency helping to administer the provision of funding. The agencies have deployed “a deep learning image recognition model” based on the Google Vision technology, according to a newly published algorithmic transparency record.
The document reveals that the AI-based tool was developed by OZEC and DVLA parent organisation the Department for Transport and “is being used to detect and prevent fraudulent [or] erroneous photos being submitted as evidence in multiple EV chargepoint grant schemes”.
Once an application has been submitted, the algorithm performs two checks on photos, the first of which is designed to ascertain whether an image of one installation has been used in multiple grant claims. The second test is intended to determine whether an image has been downloaded from the web and then used in an application.
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“We look for duplicate installations using a deep learning image recognition model to extract image representations and we calculate a similarity score for each pair of images in the database,” the record adds. “Image pairs with a similarity score above a threshold are labelled as ‘similar’ and returned to colleagues in the DVLA… to follow up with, [and] determine if the images are of the same installation and, if so, whether there is a legitimate reason for them to appear on separate grant applications.”
The transparency notice indicates that government believes the tool is delivering financial benefits of tens of thousands of pounds “from companies paying back falsely approved grant funding or not receiving it in the first place”.
The tech tool has also enabled “very large time savings compared to [the] manual labour cost of running the same level of detailed checks – far in excess of 100 years would be required to run the same checks manually”, according to the record.
“These fraud checks could not be done at the same level of detail without this tool,” it adds. “Earlier approaches to fraud risk identification relied on manual reviews and subjective assessments, which were resource intensive and less efficient.”
In order to apply for a chargepoint grant, claimants must first obtain a quote from an installation firm authorised by OZEV, before then submitting their application along with all applicable documents via an online GOV.UK service.