Article Image

News Link • Robots and Artificial Intelligence

Albania's prime minister appoints an AI-generated 'minister' to tackle corruption

• https://apnews.com, By LLAZAR SEMINI

Officially named Diella — the female form of the word for sun in the Albanian language — the new AI minister is a virtual entity.

Diella will be a "member of the Cabinet who is not present physically but has been created virtually," Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a post on Facebook.

Rama said the AI-generated bot would help ensure that "public tenders will be 100% free of corruption" and will help the government work faster and with full transparency.

Diella uses AI's up-to-date models and techniques to guarantee accuracy in offering the duties it is charged with, according to Albania's National Agency for Information Society's website.

Diella, depicted as a figure in a traditional Albanian folk costume, was created earlier this year, in cooperation with Microsoft, as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform, where she has helped users navigate the site and get access to about 1 million digital inquiries and documents.

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 European Union 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 Western Balkan country opened full negotiations to join the EU a year ago. The new government also faces the challenges of fighting organized crime and corruption, which has remained a top issue in Albania since the fall of the communist regime in 1990.


midfest.info