In something that a Babylon Bee scoop, comes word that Albania has appointed the world's first AI government minister:
Albania has become the first country in the world to have an AI minister – not an AI minister, but a virtual minister made of pixels and code and powered by artificial intelligence. Her name is "Diella", which means sunshine in Albanian, and she will be responsible for all public… pic.twitter.com/SwdjUogAGs
— Deg (@d_e_gX) September 11, 2025
https://www.politico.eu/article/albania-apppoints-worlds-first-virtual-minister-edi-rama-diella/, and it's real:
Her name is Diella, meaning sunshine in Albanian, and she will be responsible for all public procurement, Prime Minister Edi Rama said Thursday.
During the summer, Rama mused that one day the country could have a digital minister and even an AI prime minister, but few thought that day would come around so quickly.
'I hate to come across as a curmudgeon - but I work in technology, and I know that Version 1 of any software idea is going to offer...er, opporunities for improvement. And you don't necessarily want the engineers to do their practicing on live data, much less on your society.
But Albania is boldly going where no man, or anthropomorphic code women, have gone before:
“One day, we might even have a ministry run entirely by AI,” Rama said at a July press conference while discussing digitalization. “That way, there would be no nepotism or conflicts of interest,” he argued.
Local developers could even work toward creating an AI model to elect as minister, which could lead the country to “be the first to have an entire government with AI ministers and a prime minister,” Rama added.
While no formal steps have been taken and Rama’s job is not yet officially up for grabs, the prime minister said the idea should be seriously considered.
If it sounds to you like just a glorified customer service bot, yoiu're not alone - but apparently "Delia" is actually ready to implement policy:
Responsibility for deciding the winners of public tenders would be removed from government ministries in a “step-by-step” process and handled by artificial intelligence to ensure “all public spending in the tender process is 100% clear”, he said.
Diella would examine every tender in which the government contracts private companies and objectively assess the merits of each, said Rama, who was re-elected in May and has previously said he sees AI as a potentially effective anti-corruption tool that would eliminate bribes, threats and conflicts of interest.
Public tenders have long been a source of corruption scandals in Albania, which experts say is a hub for international gangs seeking to launder money from trafficking drugs and weapons and where graft has extended into the upper reaches of government.
Huh. Wonder if someone could copy Tim Walz on this? Because it sounds like Albana might be almost as corrupt as Minnesota:
An Albanian court has ruled that Sali Berisha, a former prime minister and current opposition leader, should be placed under house arrest as he is investigated for corruption.
Berisha, Albania’s prime minister between 2005 and 2013, is under investigation for allegedly abusing his power to help privatize public land to build 17 apartments for the benefit of his son-in-law.
Berisha, now head of the main opposition Democratic Party, has denied the allegations, arguing that the case is politicized and orchestrated by current Prime Minister Edi Rama. Berisha’s lawyer said he would appeal Saturday’s verdict, which also bars him from leaving the country and communicating with anyone except family members.
On the one hand, replacing state bureaucrats with AI would put Musk's DOGE to shame.
On the other? AI learns from the data it gets access to. Who's to say it's not going to encounter information about embezzlement? A video of Office Space could play hob with the model.
Let's keep and eye on this.
