Albania’s leader says his new Cabinet includes an AI ‘minister’ to fight corruption

Albania’s leader said Friday his new cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” that will be in charge of running public funding projects and fighting corruption in public tenders.

Prime Minister Edi Rama said Diella, whose name means “Sun” in Albanian, is a “member of the Cabinet who is not present physically but has been created virtually from artificial intelligence.”

Rama said Diella would help ensure that “public tenders will be 100% free of corruption.”

Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform, where she helps users navigate the site while wearing traditional Albanian folk costume.

Rama’s Socialist Party secured a fourth consecutive term after winning 83 of the 140 Assembly seats in the May 11 parliamentary elections. The party can govern alone and pass most legislation, but it needs a two-thirds majority, or 93 seats, to change the Constitution.

The Socialists have said it can deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, with negotiations concluding by 2027. The pledge has been met with skepticism by the Democrats, who contend Albania is far from prepared.

The conservative Democratic Party-led coalition, headed by former prime minister and President Sali Berisha, won 50 seats. The party has not accepted the official election results, claiming irregularities, but its members participated in the new parliament’s inaugural session. The remaining seats went to four smaller parties.

Legal experts say more work may be needed to establish Diella’s official status.

Corruption has remained a top issue in the Western Balkan country since the fall of the communist regime in 1990.

Parliament began the process to swear in new lawmakers Friday. Later in the day, lawmakers are expected to elect a new speaker and deputies and formally present Rama’s new cabinet.

Source: AP
--Agencies