Wired is reporting that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is launching a major effort to completely rebuild the codebase used by the Social Security Administration in a matter of mere months.
According to experts who spoke with Wired, the effort to migrate the SSA's database from the COBOL programming language to a more modern language such as Java.
Experts who spoke with Wired said that this kind of operation is fraught with peril and could trigger what the publication describes as a "system collapse" if not done with the utmost care.
"In order to migrate all COBOL code into a more modern language within a few months, DOGE would likely need to employ some form of generative artificial intelligence to help translate the millions of lines of code," the publication adds.
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A former senior Social Security Administration technologist outlines for Wired the severe consequences that can come from undertaking such a massive project on such a short timeframe.
"This is an environment that is held together with bail wire and duct tape,” they said. “The leaders need to understand that they’re dealing with a house of cards or Jenga. If they start pulling pieces out, which they’ve already stated they’re doing, things can break.”
Dan Hon, principal of Very Little Gravitas, which Wired describes as "a technology strategy consultancy that helps government modernize services," also expressed grave skepticism about the success of this venture.
"If you weren't worried about a whole bunch of people not getting benefits or getting the wrong benefits, or getting the wrong entitlements, or having to wait ages, then sure go ahead," he said of DOGE's ambitions.