In a closed-door session at the Milken Institute Global Conference, Elon Musk, who is now the Senior Advisor to the President of the United States, stated that artificial intelligence should be used to replace the functions currently done by some public workers. 

This is not the first time that Musk said this — last month, his DOGE team came with a plan to transform the United States federal government through an “AI-first strategy.”

As Musk is preparing to conclude his role in leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — the most significant project launched by the Trump administration particularly aimed at reducing the federal workforce, cutting costs, and dismantling agencies including the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Musk, the world’s richest man, who is the owner of Tesla, X, and SpaceX has said in recent weeks that his work with DOGE is nearly complete.

AI Replacing Public Workers in the US:

The Trump administration is really interested in using AI at all costs, in every sector. In the start of Trump’s administration, Musk has fired tens of thousands of federal government employees through DOGE, and it has been reported that he asked the remaining workers to send a weekly email, writing five points on what they accomplished in that particular week. These emails have been processed and responded with AI and it determines who should remain employed. A big hidden part of this plan by Musk is to replace many government workers with AI.

Democrats in the United States Congress are demanding to clear out on what any of these AI systems look like or how they work. Major news publications and experts warn that using AI in the federal government without robust testing can cause disastrous consequences.
Also the US Department of State is planning on using AI to scan the social media accounts of foreign users in the US to identify Hamas supporters in an effort to revoke their visas. Till the date of writing this article, there is no information from the US government about how these kinds of AI systems are working. But the enforcement of AI in the US federal government from the start of the Trump era this year has left most of the federal workers unemployed and with more AI planned to involve — it will be tough for federal workers in the upcoming time.