Albania has broken new ground by appointing the world’s first AI-generated government “minister,” a digital assistant named Diella tasked with tackling corruption, Euronews reported.
Prime Minister Edi Rama announced the move on Thursday, introducing Diella as the newest member of his cabinet. “Diella is the first [government] member who is not physically present, but virtually created by artificial intelligence,” Rama said. The digital minister’s role will focus on overseeing public tenders, a sector long plagued by corruption, with Rama promising that the process will now be “100 per cent corruption-free.”
According to Euronews, Diella will be responsible for making decisions on public tenders, ensuring that every euro of government spending submitted to the procedure is transparent. Rama emphasized that the shift will take place in a “step-by-step” process, gradually removing tender decisions from traditional ministries and handing them over to AI oversight.
The decision comes as Albania pushes to strengthen its credibility in the fight against corruption, a major hurdle in its bid to join the European Union by 2030. Transparency International ranked the country 80th out of 180 in its 2024 corruption perception index, highlighting the need for reform.
Since January, Diella has been advising citizens on navigating government services online. Visually represented as a woman in traditional Albanian dress, the digital assistant has become a recognizable symbol of the government’s digital modernization efforts, though it remains unclear whether she will retain her current image as she transitions into her ministerial role.
Rama is expected to announce his full cabinet lineup in the coming days, following his reelection earlier this year. With Diella’s appointment, Albania positions itself as a pioneer in applying AI to governance, testing how far technology can go in creating transparency in public institutions.
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