As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes ever more prolific and important, many governments around the world are appointing ministers with a remit to oversee the development and deployment of the technology.
The UAE was first, appointing Omar bin Sultan Al Olama as the world’s first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, back in 2017.
Now, Albania has claimed its own world first by appointing a new AI minister – not a politician in charge of AI policies but an entirely digital, AI-generated government figure.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama revealed the ‘appointment’ as he unveiled his new cabinet at a meeting of his Socialist Party, which secured a fourth consecutive electoral victory in May.
Rama told attendees and the media: “Diella is the first member not physically present but virtually created by artificial intelligence.”
Diella herself will be a familiar face to many within Albania, where the majority of government services are available digitally.
Presented as the avatar of a woman in traditional Albanian clothing, the AI-powered virtual assistant was deployed in January on the e-Albania platform.
Diella helps visitors navigate the portal to access official documents and other services, using voice commands and prompts.
According to official figures, she has helped issue more than 36,000 digital documents and provided nearly 1,000 other services through the platform.
AI minister Diella will help fight procurement corruption
The AI entity’s new remit will be within the realm of government procurement, which has long been a thorny issue for the Albanian government.
According to Reuters, Albania serves as a hub for gangs seeking to launder their money from drug and weapon trafficking across the world.
Rama has spoken previously on the potential of AI to cut down on corruption and has even said that the country could soon have a virtual Prime Minister.
That day hasn’t quite arrived, but the sitting Prime Minister said that Diella – whose name means ‘Sun’ – will help make Albania “a country where public tenders are 100% free of corruption”.
He said that the process of procurement will be taken out of the hands of the ministries and into Diella’s.
The process will be “step-by-step” and “transparent” and “100 percent incorruptible”, he added.
“This is not science fiction, but the duty of Diella,” the Prime Minister continued.
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