Social Security praises its new chatbot. Ex-officials say it was tested but shelved under Biden

Social Security, under the leadership of a tech enthusiast, rolled out an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot to answer calls.

But as beneficiaries complain about glitches, lawmakers and former officials ask whether it’s a preview of a less human agency at which rushed-out AI takes the place of pushed-out government workers.

John McGing couldn’t reach a human. That might be business-as-usual in this economy, but it wasn’t business; he had called the Social Security Administration, where the questions often aren’t generic and the callers tend to be older, disabled, or otherwise vulnerable Americans.

McGing, calling on behalf of his son, had an in-the-weeds question: how to prevent overpayments that the federal government might later claw back . His call was intercepted by an arti