Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has put an artificial intelligence-generated “minister” in charge of tackling corruption in his new cabinet.
Diella, which means “sun” in Albanian, was appointed on Thursday, with the leader introducing her as a “member of the cabinet who is not present physically” who will ensure that “public tenders will be 100 percent free of corruption”.
The awarding of tenders has long been a source of corruption in the Balkan country of 2.8 million people, which aspires to join the European Union.
Corruption is a key factor in Albania’s bid to join the bloc.
Rama’s Socialist Party, which recently secured a fourth term in office, has said it can deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, with negotiations concluding by 2027.
Lawmakers will soon vote on Rama’s new cabinet, but it was unclear whether he would ask for a vote on Diella’s virtual post.
Legal experts say more work may be needed to establish the official status of Diella, who is depicted on screen as a woman in a traditional Albanian folk costume.
Gazmend Bardhi, parliamentary group leader of the Democrats, said he considered Diella’s ministerial status unconstitutional.
“[The] Prime Minister’s buffoonery cannot be turned into legal acts of the Albanian state,” Bardhi posted on Facebook.
The prime minister did not provide details of what human oversight there might be for Diella, or address risks that someone could manipulate the artificial intelligence bot.
Launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform, Diella helped users navigate the site and get access to about one million digital documents.
So far, she has helped issue 36,600 digital documents and provided nearly 1,000 services through the platform, according to official figures.
