Meet Diella: Albania’s minister sans flesh and blood on a mission to zap graft

In a move that blurs the line between governance and science fiction, Albania has unveiled the world’s first artificial intelligence cabinet minister, not to oversee AI, but to be AI. Meet Diella, meaning “sun” in Albanian, a digital entity unveiled by Prime Minister Edi Rama on Thursday, days after he began his fourth term. Tasked with nothing less than purifying Albania’s notoriously murky public procurement system, Diella represents a radical experiment: can code outperform human politicians in the fight against corruption? Legally, she can’t hold office as Albania’s constitution requires ministers to be adult, mentally competent citizens. But symbolically? She’s already in the room. And Rama is betting she’ll do more than most flesh-and-blood officials ever could. “She doesn’t leak...