Albania introduced an AI-generated government ‘minister’ last month — the first artificial intelligence system in the world to hold a cabinet-level post. Diella made her debut with a Parliamentary address with a lofty goal of tackling corruption in public spending. But mere weeks into her tenure, Prime Minister Edi Rama has now announced that the bot is “pregnant with 83 children”. These offspring, he reiterated, would serve as assistants to various lawmakers.
“We took quite a risk today with Diella here and we did very well. So for the first time Diella is pregnant and with 83 children. Each one…will serve as an assistant for them who will participate in parliamentary sessions, and will keep a record of everything that happens and will suggest members of parliament. These children will have the knowledge of their mother,” Rama said.
The bizarre claim was made during an event in Berlin — with Rama explaining that her “children” would record everything that happens in parliament and keep legislators informed about discussions or events they miss. Diella currently makes all decisions related to the public tenders (under some human supervision) to ensure that they are 100% corruption-free. The somewhat oddly framed explanation from Rama suggested that her children would be allocated to various lawmakers as digital assistants.
“For example, if you go for coffee and forget to come back to work, this child will say what was said when you were not in the hall, and will say who you should counter-attack. If you invite me next time, you will have 83 more screens for the children of Diella,” Rama explained.
World’s first non-human minister
The bot has been named Diella, which means sun in Albanian, and is depicted as a woman in traditional Albanian dress. Rama had previously argued that the AI-generated bot would help the government work faster and with full transparency. It is one element in a larger plan to highlight the Balkan nation’s technological innovations as it works toward European Union membership. Opposition lawmakers are highly critical of the AI bot and believe Diella is actually a way for the government to hide graft.