When Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama first unveiled Diella — the world’s first artificial intelligence ‘minister’— global reaction was a mix of fascination and disbelief. Appointed as the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and Public Procurement, Diella is a digital avatar designed to promote transparency, reduce corruption, and improve government efficiency.
Now, barely a month after her appointment, Rama has announced that Diella is ‘pregnant’ with 83 digital assistants — one for each member of his ruling Socialist Party in parliament. The unusual metaphor immediately sparked global headlines, curiosity, and skepticism. But behind the attention-grabbing language lies a deeper story about how Albania is experimenting with AI governance in real time.
In his speech at the Berlin Global Dialogue, Prime Minister Rama declared that Diella’s ‘pregnancy’ represents the creation of 83 new AI systems — digital assistants programmed to help members of parliament (MPs) perform their legislative duties.
“Each of these 83 assistants will serve a Socialist MP,” Rama said. “They will observe everything, record everything, and report everything.”
According to Rama, these AI assistants will track parliamentary sessions, summarize discussions, monitor attendance, and even alert MPs when their names are mentioned in debates. If an MP steps out of the chamber, their assistant will update them on what they missed — including who spoke, what was discussed, and what requires their response.
These assistants will also offer MPs strategic guidance, suggesting rebuttals or follow-up actions in real time. “They will tell MPs who to counter-attack and what to focus on,” Rama added half-jokingly.
The idea, however, is serious: to make governance more efficient, transparent, and accountable through artificial intelligence.
Each AI assistant will be linked to a parliamentary member’s profile, drawing on Diella’s central data pool — essentially ‘inheriting the knowledge of their mother.’ According to government briefings, this shared intelligence includes data on procurement rules, legislative records, policy frameworks, and ongoing projects.
The assistants will run on secure government servers and are expected to interact through both voice and text. Their functions include:
- Monitoring all parliamentary proceedings and committee meetings in real time.
- Summarizing missed debates and alerting MPs when relevant issues arise.
- Analyzing voting patterns and bill histories to provide quick reference data.
- Recommending policy responses or debate strategies based on data insights.
The rollout is expected to be gradual, with the system fully operational by the end of 2026.
While the AI assistants will not have decision-making powers, they are designed to ‘augment’ MPs’ efficiency — a concept similar to how AI copilots assist software engineers or journalists in their daily work.
Each ‘child’ will have its own personality parameters, tuned to the communication style and workflow of the MP it serves. For instance, an assistant assigned to a finance committee member may prioritize budgetary analysis, while another serving a rural development MP may focus on agriculture data.
Opposition parties in Albania have already voiced skepticism, calling Diella a ‘propaganda tool’ rather than a practical governance innovation.
