Albania introduces AI-powered minister to end corruption in public procurement
The prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama, has appointed the world’s first AI-generated minister to tackle state corruption and aid innovation in his cabinet.
The AI minister, developed in partnership with Microsoft and ‘appointed’ last week, is called Diella, which means ‘sun’ in the country’s native Shqip language. Diella appears onscreen as a woman dressed in a traditional Albanian folk costume from the country’s Zadrima region.
In a post on Facebook, Rama said Diella would function as “a member of the cabinet who is not present physically but has been created virtually”.
Diella was already functional as an AI-powered virtual assistant launched to help citizens obtain official documents on the e-Albania platform, prior to being given a role in government.
Rama said that the AI-generated bot would ensure that public tenders were “completely free of corruption”. Historically, government procurement in Albania has been vulnerable to bribes, threats and vested interest.
Following a step-by-step process, the AI bot is expected to play a significant part in picking the winners of public tenders. Diella will be tasked with weighing on merit every tender involving government contracts with private firms. The aim is to stop government ministries from unfairly influencing tender decisions.
“Not only will we wipe out every potential influence on public biddings – we will also make the process much faster, much more efficient and totally accountable,” Rama said.
The appointment of Diella has drawn mixed responses. The country’s opposition Democratic Party lambasted the decision, calling it “ridiculous” and “unconstitutional”. Albania’s constitution states that government ministers must be “mentally competent citizens” aged 18 or over.
Diella joins Humphrey and Albert
While Diella is the world’s first AI-generated minister, other governments have launched and named their own AI systems.
A multi-tool suite known as Humphrey was launched by the UK government earlier this year. It was named after a fictional bureaucrat from the 1980’s British sitcom Yes Minister.
The Humphrey suite includes an AI tool known as ‘Consult’, which the Scottish Government has applied to a consultation on the regulation of non-surgical cosmetic treatments, including laser hair removal and lip fillers.
Meanwhile in France, then prime minister Gabriel Attal launched a French-made AI system known as Albert in April to streamline administrative procedures.
Albert was created to save agencies time by helping public officials answer frequently asked questions. It also fields questions submitted to tax agents, transcribes legal hearings, and files complaints and medical reports.
Read more: Australia sets out standards for government AI alongside new collaboration tool
About Jack Aldane
Jack is a British journalist, cartoonist and podcaster. He graduated from Heythrop College London in 2009 with a BA in philosophy, before living and working in China for three years as a freelance reporter. After training in financial journalism at City University from 2013 to 2014, Jack worked at Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters before moving into editing magazines on global trade and development finance. Shortly after editing opinion writing for UnHerd, he joined the independent think tank ResPublica, where he led a media campaign to change the health and safety requirements around asbestos in UK public buildings. As host and producer of The Booking Club podcast – a conversation series featuring prominent authors and commentators at their favourite restaurants – Jack continues to engage today’s most distinguished thinkers on the biggest problems pertaining to ideology and power in the 21st century. He joined Global Government Forum as its Senior Staff Writer and Community Co-ordinator in 2021.
