Can AI help solve the COBOL code crisis?
TL;DR
A computer running COBOL 73, an antiquated computer programming language, awaits taxpayer information entries at the Internal Revenue Service in Austin, Tx. , on Friday, June 10, 2022. | Image: Getty Images What do the IRS, banks, airlines, and government infrastructure around the world have in common? They're all running on systems propped up by antique computer code that nobody dares touch, lest everything come crashing down.
Nauti's Take
A small team should start with a bounded module with clear inputs and outputs. Measure semantic drift, test coverage, and manual rework.
Without independent benchmarks and a rollback plan, AI belongs in code analysis for now, not in the production migration path.
Sources
26.10.26
