Albania appoints world’s first AI government ‘minister’ to root out corruption

Albania has appointed the world's first artificial intelligence-generated government “minister”, aiming to make the country “corruption-free”.

The digital assistant is called Diella, meaning Sun, and has been advising people how to navigate government services online since January. On Thursday, Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama announced the digital minister to his cabinet.

"Diella is the first [government] member who is not physically present, but virtually created by artificial intelligence," Rama said.

Diella will be entrusted with all decisions on public tenders, making them "100 per cent corruption-free,” he said, adding that “every public fund submitted to the tender procedure will be perfectly transparent".

Deciding on who wins public tenders will be removed from government ministries in a “step-by-step” process, Rama said, adding that AI would ensure “all public spending in the tender process is 100 per cent clear”.

Corruption in Albania is a sticking point for the country, which aims to join the European Union by 2030.

Last year, the country ranked 80 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s corruption index, which ranks countries by their perceived levels of corruption in the public sector.

Rama is expected to announce his cabinet in the coming days following his reelection win in May. 

Since its launch, Diella has been pictured as a woman dressed in traditional Albanian garb. It is unclear if it will keep its current form.