Diella, which means “sun” in Albanian, was appointed on Thursday, with the leader introducing her as a “member of the cabinet who is not present physically” who will ensure that “public tenders will be 100 percent free of corruption”. FYI, the awarding of tenders has long been a source of corruption in the Balkan country of 2.8 million people.
Rama’s Socialist Party secured a fourth consecutive term in office in May. And lawmakers are to vote on his new cabinet, but it is unclear whether he would ask for a vote on Diella’s virtual post.
Legal experts say more work may be needed to establish the official status of Diella, who is depicted on screen as a woman in a traditional Albanian folk costume.
Gazmend Bardhi, parliamentary group leader of the Democrats, said he considered Diella’s ministerial status unconstitutional.
“[The] Prime Minister’s buffoonery cannot be turned into legal acts of the Albanian state”, Bardhi posted on Facebook.
And the prime minister did not provide details of what human oversight there might be for Diella, or address risks that someone could manipulate the artificial intelligence bot.
Launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform, Diella helped users navigate the site and get access to about one million digital documents. So far, she has helped issue 36,600 digital documents and provided nearly 1,000 services through the platform, according to official figures.
But 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”.
I watched yesterday's Premier League game between Liverpool and Burnley. And Mohamed Salah's injury-time penalty netted the winner! It means Liverpool continue their perfect start to their title defence.
'Twas agonizing for the Clarets though because they played really well. If I may say so, the Reds were uninspiring.
No comments:
Post a Comment