Albania appoints world’s first AI-made minister

Albania has become the first country in the world to have an AI minister — not a minister for AI, but a virtual minister made of pixels and code and powered by artificial intelligence.

Her name is Diella, meaning sunshine in Albanian, and she will be responsible for all public procurement, Prime Minister Edi Rama said Thursday.

During the summer, Rama mused that one day the country could have a digital minister and even an AI prime minister, but few thought that day would come around so quickly.

At the Socialist Party assembly in Tirana on Thursday, where Rama announced which ministers would get the chop and which would stay on for another mandate, he also introduced Diella, the only non-human member of the government.

“Diella is the first member not physically present, but virtually created by artificial intelligence,” he told party members.

Rama stated that decisions on tenders would be taken “out of the ministries” and placed in the hands of Diella, who is “the servant of public procurement.” He said the process will be “step-by-step,” but Albania will be a country where public tenders are “100 percent incorruptible and where every public fund that goes through the tender procedure is 100 percent legible.”

Diella has already been introduced to Albanian citizens as she powers the country’s e-Albania platform, which allows citizens to access almost all government services digitally. She even has an avatar, appearing as a young woman dressed in traditional Albanian clothing.

Diella will evaluate tenders and have the right to "hire talents here from all over the world," while breaking down "the fear of prejudice and rigidity of the administration."