Tirana
\nAlbanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has put an artificial intelligence-generated \u201cminister\u201d in charge of tackling corruption in his new cabinet.
\nDiella, which means \u201csun\u201d in Albanian, was appointed on Thursday, with the leader introducing her as a \u201cmember of the cabinet who is not present physically\u201d who will ensure that \u201cpublic tenders will be 100 percent free of corruption\u201d.
\nThe awarding of tenders has long been a source of corruption in the Balkan country of 2.8 million people, which aspires to join the European Union.
\nCorruption is a key factor in Albania\u2019s bid to join the bloc.
\nRama\u2019s Socialist Party, which recently secured a fourth term in office, has said it can deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, with negotiations concluding by 2027.
\nLawmakers will soon vote on Rama\u2019s new cabinet, but it was unclear whether he would ask for a vote on Diella\u2019s virtual post.
\nLegal experts say more work may be needed to establish the official status of Diella, who is depicted on screen as a woman in a traditional Albanian folk costume.
\nGazmend Bardhi, parliamentary group leader of the Democrats, said he considered Diella\u2019s ministerial status unconstitutional.
\n\u201c[The] Prime Minister\u2019s buffoonery cannot be turned into legal acts of the Albanian state,\u201d Bardhi posted on Facebook.
\nThe prime minister did not provide details of what human oversight there might be for Diella, or address risks that someone could manipulate the artificial intelligence bot.
\nLaunched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform, Diella helped users navigate the site and get access to about one million digital documents.
\nSo far, she has helped issue 36,600 digital documents and provided nearly 1,000 services through the platform, according to official figures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tirana Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has put an artificial intelligence-generated \u201cminister\u201d in charge of tackling corruption in his new cabinet. Diella, which means \u201csun\u201d in Albanian, was appointed on Thursday, with the leader introducing her as a \u201cmember of the cabinet who is not present physically\u201d who will ensure that \u201cpublic tenders will be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502760,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-502742","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n