Prime Minister Appoints AI-Generated Aide

Albania's prime minister has 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 Friday in a post on Facebook. Rama said the AI-generated bot would help ensure that "public tenders will be 100% free of corruption," the AP reports, and will help the government work faster and with full transparency.

Diella uses AI's models and techniques to guarantee accuracy in offering the duties it is charged with, according to the website of Albania's National Agency for Information Society. Depicted as a figure in a traditional Albanian folk costume, Diella 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 gain 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 on May 11. The party can govern alone and pass most legislation, but it needs a two-thirds majority, or 93 seats, to change the Constitution.

President Bajram Begaj has mandated Rama with forming the new government. Analysts said 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 opposition Democratic Party-led coalition, which won 50 seats, has not accepted the official election results, claiming irregularities. 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 said he considered Diella's ministerial status unconstitutional. "Prime minister's buffoonery cannot be turned into legal acts of the Albanian state," Gazmend Bardhi posted on Facebook.