Tech Explained: Albania Appoints AI Minister ‘Diella’: Innovation or Accountability Crisis? in Simple Terms

 Albania’s Minister: More questions, few answers

Last year, Albania stunned the world by appointing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system as a government minister. The move was hailed as futuristic. Today, the AI minister is still in office — with supporters and critics engaged in a lively debate with many questions, some with no clear answers.
Supporters argue that an incorruptible algorithm could be the perfect antidote to the graft that has plagued Albanian politics. But critics say the government is outsourcing accountability to a machine, while hiding behind the technology.
Albania is the first and only country in the world with an Artificial Intelligence system as a minister. Diella (from diell ‘sun’) is the AI system developed by the National Agency for Information Society of Albania (AKSHI). It was introduced in January 2025 as a virtual assistant on the eAlbania platform and assists citizens with online public services and issuing digital documents.
In September 2025, following a presidential decree authorising Prime Minister Edi Rama to oversee the creation of a virtual AI minister, Diella was  appointed as ‘Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence’ of Albania in the fourth Rama government, making it the first AI system in the world to be named in a cabinet-level government role.

Prime Minister Edi Rama said that Diella will manage and award all public tenders in which the government contracts private companies. The awarding of such contracts has long been a source of corruption scandals in Albania. The appointment is part of anti-corruption reforms intended to align Albania with European Union accession requirements.

Disadvantages galore
Albanian opposition leaders have criticised the move, saying the corruption has only been shifted online. Some citizens have claimed that Diella is useless and the funds for this project were wasted.
* Identity crisis: Under an agreement valid until December 2025, Albanian actress Anila Bisha provided both her likeness and voice for Diella’s avatar on the e-Albania platform. She has since demanded that her image and voice not be used for the AI system. However, her demands have been ignored. An AI persona could have been generated for Diella. It is unethical to use someone’s face and voice for political representation without that person’s consent.
* Safeguards needed: We know that AI systems suffer from bias. What if guidelines are fed into the AI to select a particular contractor over others? Or to select one with certain parameters that only a particular contractor has? So safeguards are needed to prevent manipulation. These should be well-defined and transparent. Critics say Diella’s appointment is more of a PR stunt to showcase Albania’s tech-forward image, especially in its EU integration ambitions, rather than a genuine governance innovation.  
* Human oversight needed: There is no human oversight in case of Diella. Albania is trying to join the European Union (EU). According to Article 14 of the EU AI Act, human oversight is mandatory for all high-risk AI systems. The EU may demand human oversight over Diella if talks for admission to the EU take place.
* Lack of accountability: It may be difficult to hold an AI minister accountable for its decisions. Does the responsibility lie with the programmers, the government, or the AI itself? Who will bear the responsibility?

Legal paradox
Can a non‑human hold public office? As per the Albanian Constitution, only citizens can become ministers. And citizens are humans. Thus an AI system is not legally qualified to become a minister, though, in Albania a presidential decree was issued to enable the appointment of Diella as a minister.
Generally, in all legal systems, including India, only citizens can become ministers. Further, AI systems cannot be administered the oath and be sworn in as ministers. They cannot be questioned in Parliament. They cannot be elected or defeated by election. Ideally, countries that want to adopt an AI system as a minister would have to amend their constitutions or basic laws first.
Albania’s move is a precedent. Could other governments follow suit? So far no such intent has been expressed by any other country. While novel, the advantages of having an AI system as minister are not so apparent that other countries would be tempted to go that way.

Are machines taking over?
An AI system being appointed as a minister is a milestone of sorts in governance. Should we be worried about the future of humanity? Hardly. Diella is just helping citizens get documents and, apparently ensuring fair allocation of public tenders.
However, humans are trying to develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and superintelligence. If power-hungry politicians use AGI to gain power, and AGI uses that opening to influence humans and play kingmaker, the result could be scary. But that scenario belongs to the realm of fiction, for now.