Albania's prime minister appoints an AI-generated 'minister' to tackle corruption

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TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s prime minister on Friday tapped an Artificial Intelligence-generated “minister” to tackle corruption and promote transparency and innovation in his new Cabinet.

Officially named Diella — the female form of the word for sun in the Albanian language — the new AI minister is a virtual entity.

Diella will be a “member of the Cabinet who is not present physically but has been created virtually," Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a post on Facebook.

Rama said the AI-generated bot would help ensure that “public tenders will be 100% free of corruption” and will help the government work faster and with full transparency.

Diella uses AI’s up-to-date models and techniques to guarantee accuracy in offering the duties it is charged with, according to Albania’s National Agency for Information Society's website.

Diella, depicted as a figure in a traditional Albanian folk costume, was created earlier this year, in cooperation with Microsoft, as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform, where she has helped users navigate the site and get access to about 1 million digital inquiries and documents.

Rama’s Socialist Party secured a fourth consecutive term after winning 83 of the 140 Assembly seats in the May 11 parliamentary elections. The party can govern alone and pass most legislation, but it needs a two-thirds majority, or 93 seats, to change the Constitution.

The Socialists have said it can deliver European Union membership for Albania in five years, with negotiations concluding by 2027. The pledge has been met with skepticism by the Democrats, who contend Albania is far from prepared.

The Western Balkan country opened full negotiations to join the EU a year ago. The new government also faces the challenges of fighting organized crime and corruption, which has remained a top issue in Albania since the fall of the communist regime in 1990.

Diella also will help local authorities to speed up and adapt to the bloc's working trend.

Albanian President Bajram Begaj has mandated Rama with the formation of the new government. Analysts say that gives the prime minister authority “for the creation and functioning” of AI-generated Diella.

Asked by journalists whether that violates the constitution, Begaj stopped short on Friday of describing Diella's role as a ministerial post.

The conservative opposition Democratic Party-led coalition, headed by former prime minister and president Sali Berisha, won 50 seats. The party has not accepted the official election results, claiming irregularities, but its members participated in the new parliament’s inaugural session. The remaining seats went to four smaller parties.

Lawmakers will vote on the new Cabinet but it was unclear whether Rama will ask for a vote on Diella's virtual post. Legal experts say more work may be needed to establish Diella's official status.

The Democrats' parliamentary group leader Gazmend Bardhi said he considered Diella's ministerial status unconstitutional.

“Prime minister's buffoonery cannot be turned into legal acts of the Albanian state,” Bardhi posted on Facebook.

Parliament began the process on Friday to swear in the new lawmakers, who will later elect a new speaker and deputies and formally present Rama’s new Cabinet.