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