According to Sean Brune, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the Social Security Administration (SSA), the pandemic accelerated SSA’s efforts to modernize its systems, including the use of artificial intelligence in the evaluation of disability claims. Mr. Brune said that SSA is focused on adopting “more robust technology for assisting in adjudication or decisions on claims. Particularly in the disability arena, we are expanding our use of artificial intelligence [referred to by SSA as “automated decision support”] to identify evidentiary documents that meet our requirements and flag them to the decision maker.”

Mr. Brune also noted that “[u]ntil this year, there were 54 different unique systems to adjudicate those funds,” he said. “Now we have one nationwide disability claims processing system. We’ve retired those state legacy systems, and that has enabled us to apply artificial intelligence.”