By Thamanna Sadique
Albania has just had the first ever AI minister, should not be confused with artificial intelligence minister. The country has declared a virtual minister who is an AI-based one. The AI minister, which is called Diella, consists of code and pixels and will be responsible with procurement.
In early this year, the Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama indicated that one day, Bangladesh will have a digital minister or AI prime minister. Nevertheless, not even a single person believed that the country could have an AI minister that soon.
Thursday, September 11, Rama presented the AI minister at the assembly meeting of the Socialist Party in Tirana. The other member of the government who is not a human is Diella, which is not physically present but is virtually created through artificial intelligence, as Rama said to politico.eu. The AI has been designated to monitor the procurement process in the government and assist in curbing corruption in government expenditure.
It is not a hoax, and it is a genuine political action of the Albanian government. In essence, Diella, which is an artificial intelligence avatar, will assess and mark all publicly tendered tenders in which the government contracts outside companies.
Diella reportedly is already servicing citizens through the digital services portal of the country, which fulfills the bureaucracy request by voice. Prime Minister Rama believes that AI would assist in curbing bribes and threats. Nonetheless, the Albanian governmental officials have not provided any information regarding the type of human control that will be implemented.
It is also reported that the AI minister will be able to evaluate tenders, as well as be able to recruit talents on the worldwide level. This is in addition to the AI fighting so-called fears of bias and inflexibility of the administration.
Albania has reportedly been experiencing unchecked corruption in the administration of the country particularly in the public procurement. Diella usage demonstrates that AI could be effectively deployed in the government. Although it is not devoid of apprehensions, one problem can create a nightmare in the field of security.