Albania has adopted the world’s first AI “minister” in an attempt to combat corruption. Diella, the female-voiced AI entity, will be a “member of the Cabinet who is not present physically but has been created virtually,” Prime Minister Edi Rama stated, adding that the robot would ensure that “public tenders will be 100% free of corruption” since current government employees cannot be trusted.
Microsoft helped to assemble Dinella—red flag number one. The robot will receive access to 1 million digital documents, including sensitive government information. The advancements in AI are ingenious but not sentient. Dinella has been programmed and, therefore, is prone to biases.
The irony is that in turning to artificial intelligence, the people are acknowledging that human government has completely failed. I have said before that many have proposed replacing judges, regulators, and even politicians with AI, as if a machine will somehow be impartial. The problem, of course, is not the hardware but the software. Who writes the code? Who programs the “ethics”? If government controls the AI, then it is nothing more than an automated extension of the same corruption. AI becomes a weaponized bureaucracy, enforcing whatever the ruling elite rules.
Rama’s Socialist Party has its eyes set on European Union membership, believing it can rid its nation of corruption ahead of negotiations in 2027. It is unclear if lawmakers will have the ability to vote on Diella’s post as minister, or whether the public will have an opportunity to vote for AI-driven politicians.
Society has fallen to the point that robots are trusted more than human beings. Do people believe that a robot can properly represent them or lead? “[The] Prime Minister’s buffoonery cannot be turned into legal acts of the Albanian state,” said Gazmend Bardhi, parliamentary group leader of the Democrats.
AI is only as honest as its programmer, and if Microsoft is involved, I have little hope of Dinella’s moral coding. Appointing a robot as minister is an extremely desperate move by the Albanian government to restore public trust. This is not a technological milestone but a glaring warning of lost confidence in a failing political system.