Albania Appoints “World’s First Virtual Minister” to Tackle Corruption
TIRANA – Albania has made headlines with the announcement of what Prime Minister Edi Rama calls the world’s first virtual minister, “Diella.” The AI-powered lawmaker is being presented as a tool to end the long-standing corruption in government contracts, a key obstacle to Albania’s bid to join the European Union.
Rama has claimed that Diella will make public tenders “100 percent free of corruption.” Speaking about the virtual minister, the prime minister said, “Diella never sleeps, she doesn’t need to be paid, she has no personal interests, she has no cousins—because cousins are a big issue in Albania.”
Corruption scandals have plagued Albanian politics for years. The former mayor of Tirana is currently in custody on suspicion of awarding government contracts illegally, while opposition leader and former prime minister Sali Berisha is also accused of giving public contracts to allies.
Experts remain skeptical
Despite Rama’s optimism, experts caution that Diella may not be the panacea the government hopes for. “Like any AI system, she depends entirely on the quality and consistency of the data and the reliability of the models behind her,” said Erjon Curraj, a digital transformation and cybersecurity expert.
Though the inner workings of Diella are unclear, she likely relies on Large Language Models (LLMs)—the same kind of AI that powers ChatGPT and other chatbots. Curraj warned that flawed or biased data could lead to errors, such as misinterpreting documents, wrongly flagging suppliers, or missing signs of collusion.
“LLMs reflect society; they have biases. There’s no reason to believe it solves the problem of corruption,” said computer scientist and AI specialist Jean-Gabriel Ganascia. “Assuming a machine has no biases implies we must submit to the machine.”
Who’s accountable?
The Albanian opposition has raised concerns about accountability, taking the matter to the Constitutional Court. “Who will control Diella?” asked Berisha in parliament.
Ganascia echoed these worries: “If public decision-making is entrusted to a machine, there is no longer accountability; we are reduced to the state of slaves. A politician takes responsibility, but here, the idea is that the machine is perfect, and we cannot go against its decisions anyway.”
In response, a decree published Thursday clarified that Rama himself “holds responsibility for the creation and operation of the virtual Ministry of Artificial Intelligence Diella.”
Old corruption, new software
Rama’s announcement follows his history of headline-grabbing initiatives, from banning TikTok to opening migrant camps and proposing a Bektashi State modeled on the Vatican. But critics point out that these efforts have made little practical progress. TikTok remains widely accessible, only a few dozen migrants have been moved to the new camps, and the Bektashi State project has yet to materialize.
Diella, whose face is modeled on Albanian actress Anila Bisha under a contract expiring in December, also faces legal uncertainty. Observers question whether her appointment will survive the Constitutional Court review and whether it aligns with EU standards, a crucial factor in Albania’s accession plans.
“So far, there is no information about how Diella actually works,” said Albanian political scientist Lutfi Dervishi. “If a corrupt system provides manipulated data, or filters are set up on what it must not see, Diella will merely legitimise old corruption with new software.”
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