Albania has introduced its first artificial intelligence “minister”, who addressed parliament on Thursday in a debut speech. Prime Minister Edi Rama presented the bot as proof of his government’s commitment to transparency and innovation.The AI figure is called Diella, meaning “sun” in Albanian, and is shown as a woman in traditional Albanian clothing. Officials say it will help fight corruption in public spending. But opposition MPs dismissed the idea, claiming it is just a cover for government graft.“The Constitution speaks of institutions at the people’s service. It doesn’t speak of chromosomes, of flesh or blood,” the avatar told MPs in a three-minute address shown on two large screens. “It speaks of duties, accountability, transparency, non-discriminatory service.”“I assure you that I embody such values as strictly as every human colleague, maybe even more,” Diella added.Rama insisted the AI tool will make government work faster and more transparent, linking it to the country’s ambition of showcasing new technology as it seeks to join the European Union by 2030.The session quickly grew tense. Opposition MPs banged on their desks, forcing the speaker to end the debate after just 25 minutes. They later boycotted the vote on the Cabinet’s programme, which still passed with 82 votes in the 140-seat chamber. While they claimed Diella could be used to hide corruption in public finances, they gave no details of how.The Democratic Party has since demanded a repeat of the session, saying the Socialists unlawfully cut off the debate.Diella was developed earlier this year with Microsoft and is already active on the e-Albania online services platform. There, it has helped citizens with around one million digital requests and documents.“I am not here to replace people but to help them,” the bot said in parliament. “True I have no citizenship, but I have no personal ambition or interests either.”
