Report 6220

Move over, DOGE. President Donald Trump famously created a White House agency that uses technology to streamline government. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has one-upped Trump by appointing an artificial-intelligence bot to his cabinet.

Rama announced this month that "Diella" --- Albanian for "Sun" --- would join his government as a minister. Diella already pops up to greet visitors on the government website e-Albania. Her new charge: to oversee public procurement.

She won't need to be that incorruptible to outperform the current system. Last year, Albania scored a 42 out of 100 in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures the prevalence of bribery, nepotism and other forms of graft. (Denmark scored highest, at 90; the United States sits at 65.) Rama says artificial intelligence can help award public tenders more fairly.

Rama, a 6-foot-6 populist, has been in power since 2013. He has pushed his country toward European Union membership while facing concerns over corruption and democratic backsliding.

Of course, naming Diella a "minister" is a stunt. Albania's constitution requires cabinet members to be human beings; whatever role AI plays in distributing government resources, people will need to determine the government's budget and priorities.

The Albanian government has struggled with technology in the past. In 2022, Albania's government services were crippled for weeks by a massive Iranian cyberattack that Rama likened to a bombing campaign. Would a cyberattack that "kills" a government minister push Rama to evoke NATO's mutual defense provision?

But turning to new technology to address corruption, even if only symbolically, is a useful goad. Instead of waiting for the arrival of superhuman "artificial general intelligence," governments around the world can look for ways to improve governance with artificial intelligence as it exists today.

In the United States, the government has lagged private industry on AI adoption. Some 150 bills on the subject were mulled in state capitols last year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But it's not fast enough. As The Post has reported, China is far outpacing any country in the West in rolling out AI --- across hospitals, factories and government offices.

It's early days in the AI era. But in the risk-averse world of government bureaucracy, Albania deserves credit for trying something new.