WORLD’S FIRST ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MINISTER APPOINTED

WORLD’S FIRST ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MINISTER APPOINTED

13-SEP-ENG 2

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-----------------------------The world's first artificial intelligence minister has been appointed in Albania, whose name is Diella. This is not a human, but a virtual assistant, whom Prime Minister Edi Rama has given a place in his cabinet. Diella's responsibility is to end the long-standing corruption in government tenders and contracts. The Prime Minister has clarified that from now on all government tenders will be under the supervision of Diella, where there will be no place for favoritism, bribery or political pressure.

Diella's name means sun in the Albanian language. It is presented in the image of a woman, who is seen wearing traditional Albanian dress. In January 2025, it first appeared as a digital assistant on the e-Albania portal for citizens. Since then, it has issued more than 36,000 digital documents and delivered more than a thousand services to citizens. Today, about 95% of Albania's government services are available online through this platform, making the country a leader in its region in digital administration.

The biggest thing is that Diella bases all his decisions on automated standards and data analysis. Neither recommendation nor fear works in it. This is the reason why the government hopes that there will now be complete transparency in the tender process and the roots of corruption will weaken.

Albania's history has been full of corruption-related controversies. Many times international drug and arms smuggling networks resorted to bribery to get government contracts. To get EU membership, Albania will have to prove by 2030 that its administration is transparent and corruption-free. After getting a majority in the May 2025 elections, Prime Minister Rama is now trying to change the country's image with the help of digital technology.

Now as a minister, Diella will directly examine all tender proposals and take the final decision on contracts. It is believed that this will largely end the bureaucracy's sellable nature and contracts given under political pressure. However, one question still remains. Will there be any human monitoring of Diella's decisions or will everything be left completely to AI? Experts warn that if security is ignored, this system can also be hacked or manipulated. At the same time, public opinion is divided. Some people consider it a revolutionary step against corruption, while some say sarcastically that Diella will also become corrupt in Albania and the blame will be put on him.

Many countries of the world are using AI in government work, but no one has shown the courage to bring it so close to power. More than 130 services in Estonia run with the help of AI and the United Arab Emirates appointed a minister for AI policy in 2017. But this experiment of Albania is completely different. Here the administrative process has been completely handed over to AI for the first time. Now everyone's eyes are on Diella. If this experiment is successful, it is possible that more countries will take similar steps in the coming years.