Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has appointed an artificial intelligence-generated ‘minister’ to tackle corruption.
The AI bot, named Diella, was introduced on Thursday, September 11, as part of Rama’s new cabinet, reports Al Jazeera. He said Diella would ensure that “public contracts will be 100 per cent free of corruption.”
Diella, which means “sun” in Albanian, is depicted on screen wearing traditional Albanian dress. She was first launched earlier this year on the e-Albania platform, where she has issued more than 36,000 digital documents and provided about 1,000 services.
Government contracts have long been a source of corruption in Albania, a country of 2.8 million people that aims to join the European Union (EU) by 2027.
Opposition leader Gazment Bardhi rejected the move, calling it unconstitutional. “The Prime Minister’s buffoonery cannot be turned into legal acts of the Albanian state,” he posted on Facebook.
Lawmakers will vote on Rama’s new cabinet in the coming days. It is not clear whether Diella’s post will be included in the vote or how her work will be supervised.
