Albania appoints AI bot ‘minister’ to fight corruption in world first

The article reports that Edi Rama, Albania's prime minister, has given responsibility for combating corruption to an AI-generated "minister" called Diella in his newly formed cabinet. The name means "sun" in Albanian. She was appointed on a Thursday, and Rama presented her as a cabinet member who is not physically there and who will keep public tenders entirely clean of corruption. On screen she is shown as a woman wearing traditional folk dress.

The article notes that corruption has long surrounded how tenders are awarded in Albania, a country of 2.8 million people that aspires to EU membership, where tackling corruption weighs heavily on that bid. Rama's Socialist Party, which recently won a fourth term, says it can deliver EU membership in five years, with negotiations ending by 2027. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual helper on the e-Albania portal, where she guided users to about one million digital documents. Official figures cited credit her with helping issue 36,600 documents and delivering close to 1,000 services.

Doubts are reported on several fronts. Legal experts suggest further work could be required to clarify what official standing Diella has. Gazmend Bardhi, who leads the Democrats in parliament, called her ministerial status unconstitutional and said the prime minister's buffoonery cannot become legal acts of the state. Rama gave no details of any human oversight of Diella and did not address the risk that someone could manipulate the bot. Social media users quoted in the article joked that even Diella will be corrupted and that she will be blamed while stealing continues.

Next, parliament is due to vote on the new cabinet soon, though it is not clear whether Rama will request a separate vote on Diella's virtual post.