Elon Musk wants to change it with an AI

Elon Musk may have The hours counted In front of Doge, that “efficiency” office with which Donald Trump has given the richest man in the world as closely to a chainsaw for cut where you can In public administration. Meanwhile, Musk may be before his great work or the failure that will accompany him for the rest of his life. At stake: a base code of the 50s, the same that holds the aid of 65 million people in the United States.

A risky plan. The story Wired told this week. The so -called Government Efficiency Department (Doge), has started a project to migrate “in a matter of months” all the United States Social Security Administration Systems (SSA), abandoning the COBOL LANGUAGEin use since the 50s, to replace it with a more modern technology Like Java.

The problem? That experts warn that this operation is technically colossal and extremely riskygiven that Cobol holds the critical functions of the SSA, including the issuance of social security numbers and the payment of benefits to more than 65 million people. In other words: a forced and hurried migration could generate from erroneous payments to the complete loss of benefits, without the authorities to even detect the failures.

Musk and the system. Apparently, the project arises in the midst of a growing pressure from the Trump administration on the SSA. Musk has publicly attacked the agency, accusing her, Without evidenceto allow fraud as payments to alleged beneficiaries of 150 years of age, a distortion caused for technical limitations of cobol and not for corruption.

In addition, since Doge assumed tasks within the SSA, the agency has faced budget cuts and a deterioration of its serviceswith constant falls on its website and prolonged waiting times in attention to the public.

Domino effect. The SSA system houses more than 60 million code lines Cobol, and its main structure, including the Madam databaseit has not been substantially renewed Since the 80s.

In fact, They counted in Arstechnica That its architecture is so fragile that any change without the necessary precautions could trigger a domino effect of unpredictable failures, affecting payment calculations, acquired rights and the very stability of the computer infrastructure that supports the largest social security system on the planet.

Doge and AI. Wired underlined that the Doge team that has taken control of the project is partly formed by Young and inexperienced engineerswhose initial task has been to develop identity verification systems and Audit beneficiaries Through the controversial initiative “Are You Alive Project”

The lack of solid and, very important planning, the intention of Use artificial intelligence generative to rewrite millions of lines of code within an unreal period increases fears within the SSA. Moreover, several experts consulted They warn that even in several years it would be possible to ensure that the new applications reproduce without errors all the calculations and business rules accumulated for decades.

The beneficiaries on the wire. No doubt, the main fear is not only an incorrect payment, but the possibility that millions of people stop receiving your checks Without even the system, generating an unprecedented social crisis. With an environment that some employees describe As “sustained with wires and adhesive tape”, forced migration and without guarantees threatens to destabilize not only the SSA, but one of the fundamental pillars of the welfare state in the United States.

Speed ​​vsa costs. The decision to impose drastic deadlines, prioritizing advertisements to hype and saucer On solid results, it seems to reflect the Internal logic of Doge and the Trump administration: demonstrate that They can “modernize” In record time, even at the expense of breaking essential services.

Without a realistic plan and without adequate resources, the migration of the SSA seems more like a political experiment than a responsible modernization of a social security system than Millions of citizens They depend for subsistence.

Image | Steve Jurvetson, Wec3390

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