“Diella is pregnant. She is expecting 83 kids.” This was a statement made by Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama that got a smile from the interviewer but puzzled others. It was a bizarre and attention-grabbing statement and by the looks of it, it certainly got attention.
Who is Diella?
First things first, who is Diella? Diella is not a real person. Diella is a computer creation – an AI creation. Albania appointed Diella (which translates to ‘Sun’) in September to simplify the procurement process in the country to make the process ‘completely transparent’. So Diella is Albania’s first AI-generated minister. Albania has long struggled with corruption, and the government sees Diella as a way to replace human bias with fair, data-driven decisions.
What did the PM mean when he said ‘Diella is expecting 83 kids’?
Edi Rama was speaking at the Global Dialogue in Berlin where he said this. “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.” According to Rama, each member of Parliament – and that’s where the 83 children come from – will each get an AI assistant that will keep a track of everything that happens in Parliament, make notes, and even alert the MP when something is said specifically about them while they were missing from the session.
You may call it ironic, but Edi Rama has humanised an AI creation to draw attention to his curious statement. While explaining what each ‘child’ will do, Rama added, “These children will have the knowledge of their mother.”
When Diella addressed Parliament
The non-human minister Diella recently addressed the Albanian Parliament (virtually, but of course) to try to win over opposition to her very existence. Diella claimed she was ‘hurt’ by opposition lawmakers who called her unconstitutional. Her aim was only to assist humans, not replace them. “I have no citizenship, but I have no ambitions and personal interests either,” claimed Diella. “I only have data and algorithms at my disposal, so I can put all this to the service of citizens with impartiality, transparency and without tiring.”