In a world-first move, the Albanian government has appointed an artificial intelligence bot as a member of its cabinet. Named Diella—meaning “sun” in Albanian—the digital minister has been tasked with overseeing public procurement processes and managing contracts with private companies.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, introducing his new cabinet, described Diella as “the first minister created entirely by artificial intelligence, existing only in digital form.” According to Rama, this groundbreaking step is designed to help eliminate one of Albania’s most entrenched problems: corruption.
For years, Albania has been plagued by scandals involving bribery and money laundering in public tenders. Allegations of illicit funds from drug trafficking and arms smuggling reaching the political elite have also hampered the country’s bid to join the European Union. International observers claim that corruption has touched even the highest levels of government, including Rama himself.
While Rama maintains his goal of securing EU membership by 2030, experts argue that this will not be feasible without a permanent solution to systemic corruption. Diella’s role is to minimize human interference in public tenders, thereby blocking bribery and patronage networks.
The Prime Minister expressed confidence that Albania will soon be known for “100% corruption-free tenders” thanks to its new digital cabinet member.
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