As far as experts can tell, AI can’t feel any emotions, and this impassivity is being put to some interesting uses.
The country of Albania has appointed an AI bot named Diella as a Cabinet Minister. The bot will be responsible for managing and awarding all public tenders in which the government contracts private companies for various projects.
“Diella is the first cabinet member who isn’t physically present, but is virtually created by AI,” Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama said during a speech unveiling his new cabinet. He added that she would help make Albania “a country where public tenders are 100% free of corruption.” The government did not provide details of what human oversight there might be for Diella, or address risks that someone could manipulate the artificial intelligence bot.
The awarding of such tenders has been a source of corruption scandals in Albania. Some experts say Albania is a hub for gangs seeking to launder their money from trafficking drugs and weapons across the world, and a country where corruption is rife in government. This image has made it complicated for Albania to join the EU, which Prime Minister Rama wants done by 2030.
Diella originally launched early this year as an AI-powered virtual assistant on the e-Albania platform, helping citizens and businesses obtain state documents. Dressed in traditional Albanian attire, she provides assistance through voice commands and issues documents with electronic stamps, reducing bureaucratic delays.
It could make sense for an AI bot to be responsible for government contracts. Unlike humans, an AI bot can’t be induced through fear or favour — the bot will have no feelings of greed or avarice, so will likely take the rational decision on contracts based on how it’s been prompted. But there might be other issues for Albania to consider — given how AI bots can be jailbroken through prompt injections, they’d need to be careful that Diella isn’t being manipulated through such techniques.
But this could be the start of a growing trend in government. A candidate has already run for election as Mayor in the US on the promise that he’d defer all his decisions to an AI. AI systems can take human bias and failings out of important decisions, and give optimal answers. If these systems can become robust against technical manipulation, and can give out consistently good decisions, such AI systems could end up managing crucial decisions in governments around the world.
]
“Diella is the first cabinet member who isn’t physically present, but is virtually created by AI,” Rama said during a speech unveiling his new cabinet. She will help make Albania “a country where public tenders are 100% free of corruption.”
The awarding of such contracts has long been a source of corruption scandals in Albania, a Balkan country that experts say is a hub for gangs seeking to launder their money from trafficking drugs and weapons across the world, and where graft has reached the corridors of power.
That image has complicated Albania’s accession to the European Union, which Rama wants to achieve by 2030 but which political analysts say is ambitious.
The government did not provide details of what human oversight there might be for Diella, or address risks that someone could manipulate the artificial intelligence bot.
Diella originally launched early this year as an AI-powered virtual assistant on the e-Albania platform, helping citizens and businesses obtain state documents. Dressed in traditional Albanian attire, she provides assistance through voice commands and issues documents with electronic stamps, reducing bureaucratic delays.
Not everyone is convinced. One Facebook user said: “Even Diella will be corrupted in Albania.” Another said: “Stealing will continue and Diella will be blamed.”
The new parliament, elected in May, is scheduled to convene on Friday, though it remains unclear if the government will be voted on the same day.