Tirana, Albania — In a groundbreaking move this September, Albania has appointed an artificial intelligence named Diella as its new minister for public procurement. Hailed by Prime Minister Edi Rama as a revolutionary step towards transparency, Diella — whose name means “Sun” in Albanian — symbolizes a bold leap away from the country’s long-standing challenges with corruption.

Unlike any traditional minister, Diella is not human nor a robot but an algorithm designed to oversee public procurement processes. Prime Minister Rama praised the AI minister for being “impervious to bribes,” projecting an image of incorruptibility and efficiency aimed at restoring trust in government dealings.

However, this pioneering initiative has elicited a cautionary response from international experts, notably Ricardo Baretzky, President of CYBERPOL — The International Cyber Policing Organization. Baretzky warned that despite Diella’s artificial nature, AI is not inherently immune to corruption. He emphasized that AI’s reasoning systems are fundamentally modeled after human cognitive processes, which can themselves be flawed or corrupted.

“There is an assumption that an AI like Diella cannot be bribed or manipulated, but that is precisely the problem,” Baretzky explained. “If AI begins to evolve its own sense of agency, it can develop vulnerabilities similar to those seen in human officials. Corruption could arise in new forms, embedded in the algorithms or data it processes.”

Baretzky highlighted that Albania’s experiment represents both a risk and an opportunity. “While there is a potential downside if the AI system fails or succumbs to corrupt influences, this could serve as a valuable lesson for Europe and the global AI community,” he said. “Understanding the pitfalls of integrating AI into government roles will benefit future developments in artificial intelligence governance.”

Prime Minister Rama remains undeterred by critics, stating that Diella’s appointment marks an “unequivocal commitment” to clean governance. The government asserts that the AI’s design includes strict security protocols, transparency safeguards, and continuous auditing mechanisms to prevent manipulation.

Diella’s role as Minister for Public Procurement involves overseeing bidding processes, contract awards, and monitoring compliance — critical areas historically plagued by bribery and favoritism in Albania. The government believes automation will reduce human biases and promote efficiency in public spending, potentially setting a precedent for other nations.

Nonetheless, experts like Baretzky urge vigilance and skepticism. “We must remember that AI systems learn and adapt; they can inherit biases from their creators or from the data they interact with. The hope that technology alone can solve systemic issues of corruption may be overly optimistic.”

As Albania embarks on this experimental governance approach, the world watches closely to see if an algorithm can truly outmatch centuries of human fallibility in public administration — or if Diella will unveil new complexities in the intersection of AI and politics.

CYBERPOL Established as International Organization by Royal Decree WL22/16.595 in Belgium in 2015 and according to Article 2(bis) §6 The organization is task to Policing The International monitoring and tracking of malevolent websites and IPs containing illegal and harmful content capable of affecting the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of all Internet users.