A proposed new law would allow the Ministry of Social Development to use AI to make decisions about people's benefits.
By Lauren Crimp of RNZ
A change to the Social Security Act is being debated under urgency in Parliament – meaning it avoids the select committee process which includes public consultation and scrutiny.
The Act already allowed for the "targeted" use of "automated decision making", and that would widen if the Bill passed.
It would enable MSD to "approve the use of an automated electronic system by a specified person to make any decision, exercise any power, comply with any obligation, or take any other related action under any specified provision, with appropriate safeguards."
MSD told RNZ the proposed changes would not involve the use of generative AI such as ChatGPT.
A note accompanying the bill said aimed to "improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the administration of the welfare system".
Social Development Minister Louise Upston was not in the House on Friday, so National's Scott Simpson introduced the bill instead.
He said MSD made millions of decisions every year, and staff were spending too much time on administration.
"That's not good enough for the clients of MSD, or taxpayers. This Bill fixes that."
The technology would be used "sensibly", he said.
"Automated decision making will be used for simple, rules based decisions, and human judgement will remain where it is needed," he said.
"That means faster decisions, more consistency, and a system people can trust."
Labour's Helen White said the regulatory impact statement - which summarises the law's purpose, costs and benefits - redacted the section outlining the problem the Bill sought to solve: "so it is very, very difficult to know what is going on here."
People should be able to expect human contact to be part of the welfare system, she said.
"You're talking about the very group of people who are most disconnected, and it's very, very important we safeguard that connection."
Her colleague Ingrid Leary said automation was the government's way of replacing staff who could lose their jobs following the Budget.
The Greens' Ricardo Menéndez March said the move was a huge expansion of powers.
"This is a carte blanche expansion to basically allow a robot, a machine, to have power of people's lives," he said.
He, and others, referenced Robodebt – an automated Australian government scheme which incorrectly demanded welfare recipients pay back benefits.
An inquiry later found it made victims feel like criminals and caused suicides.
"People died in Australia because of automated systems that ruined people's lives and made mistakes, put people into debt," Menéndez March said.
It was "extremely concerning" that the bill was being passed without consultation or scrutiny, he said.
MPs from coalition parties spoke briefly, as is often the case under urgency, in a bid to speed up the process.
New Zealand First's Jamie Arbuckle said the bill was a "significant step towards a more efficient, modern welfare system that serves both the taxpayer and those in genuine need".
ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar said her party supported it for the same reasons.
She argued staff members would have more time to help get people off the benefit and into jobs, and there would be adequate safeguards in place.
"Of course there will be humans there to help ... nobody's taking that human element out," she said.
But Te Pāti Māori MP Oriini Kaipara questioned claims of safeguards.
"We've heard that before ... we heard it when the ministry unlawfully targeted beneficiaries through debt recovery, we heard it when Māori were disproportionately sanctioned and we heard it when whaikaha, our disabled community, were forced repeatedly to prove that they were still disabled," she said.
"Technology isn't neutral when the system itself is unequal."
The bill also sought to expand the list of benefits that would be subject to regular reviews, ensuring people were still eligible and receiving the right amount.
It would also require beneficiaries to provide medical evidence for some benefits, and exclude children from a caregiver's benefit when the child turns 18 years old.
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