Albania has made history by appointing an AI bot as a government minister. The move aims to reduce corruption and ensure full transparency in public contracts. On Thursday, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that the AI bot, named Diella, which means “sun” in Albanian, will oversee the awarding of all government contracts to private contractors.

During a speech, the Prime Minister said, “Diella is the first cabinet member who isn’t physically present but is virtually created by AI.” Albania has struggled with public contract corruption, gang wars, money laundering, and drug trafficking in the past. By using an AI, the government hopes to reduce human bias and ensure tenders are 100% corruption-free.

Diella originally started as a voice assistant in January, helping citizens with bureaucratic tasks via voice commands. It provided guidance on how to access government services efficiently. Now, its role has expanded to overseeing public contracts and monitoring processes to prevent favouritism or illegal practices.

The public reaction has been mixed. Some people praised the decision. One social media user commented, “An AI minister? Albania’s playing 4D chess while the rest of us are still figuring out email signatures.” However, others expressed scepticism. Concerns include the possibility of AI making mistakes, being trained on biased data, or lacking proper human oversight. One user joked, “This is a perfect Balkan tool for corruption. We didn’t do it, AI did.” Another wrote, “Even Diella will be corrupted in Albania.”

Media outlets, however, have largely welcomed the decision, calling it a major step in modernising government and improving administrative efficiency. Experts say that if implemented carefully, AI could transform governance by making decision-making processes faster, transparent, and less prone to manipulation.

Albania’s experiment with an AI minister is attracting global attention. Many countries are watching closely to see whether technology can effectively help fight corruption and improve governance, or if human oversight will still be necessary to ensure accountability.