Diella, Albania’s controversial artificial intelligence (AI) ‘minister,’ is now the subject of a lawsuit, based on the accusation that its image was stolen from a human performer.
Actress Anila Bisha appeared in Tirana’s Administrative Court, suing Albania’s Council of Ministers, the state-owned company Apel, the National Agency of Information, and Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Last September, Rama presented his new cabinet ahead of his historic fourth term, introducing Diella as
the first cabinet member who isn’t physically present, but is virtually created by AI [designed to make Albania] a country where public tenders are 100% free of corruption.
At the time, Rama was speaking up for the national benefits of applied AI aimed at growing regional threats, including the use of the technology itself to undermine cybersecurity. In the process, the likeness of Diella—whose image and voice was in use as a digital assistant on the state’s e-Albania digital services portal—was promoted to ‘minister.’
Bisha claims her contract is for her image to be used as that of the digital assistant (bot), but not as the new ‘minister’:
I have nothing to do with Diella as minister and no one asked me about that.
The Albanian government-run Media and Information Agency rejected her claims as bogus. Some of its critics reman concerned by its excessive faith in AI.
