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

Albania's prime minister 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 would 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. Diella will also 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 of describing Diella's role as a ministerial post. 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. This article was provided by The Associated Press.