Albania appoints world’s first AI minister

Albania has reportedly announced an AI-created digital assistant named Diella that will help navigate government services online and will be put in charge of public procurement in an attempt to cut down corruption.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Edi Rama. In Albania, Diella, meaning Sun, has been instructing users on the state’s Albania portal since January.

Primarily it was designed to help citizens with a wide range of bureaucratic tasks, and to enable them to digitally access 95% of citizen services.

According to Edi Rama, Diella is the first cabinet member which is not physically present and has been created specifically by AI. It will play a pivotal role in helping Albania make public tenders 100% free of corruption.

During the official announcement of his fourth consecutive government, Albania’s Prime Minister stated that new AI assistant, Diella, who is dressed in traditional Albanian costume, would become “the servant of public procurement”

He was of the view that prime responsibility for deciding the winners of public tenders would be removed from government ministries in a step-by-step process and specifically handled by artificial intelligence to ensure all public spending in the tender process is 100% crystal clear.

Experts say that public tenders play a crucial role in Albania and have been a source of corruption scandals.

These issues are particularly tied to the country’s role as a hub for international gangs seeking to launder money from drug and weapons trafficking.

Experts have declared that the corruption has been extended to the upper reaches of government.

The significant move was praised by Albanian media as it represents a major transformation in the way the government exercises administrative power while introducing technology.

Albania has long battled with corruption particularly in the area of public administration. This matter has been reportedly highlighted by the European Union in its annual law reports.