Albania’s AI-generated minister, Diella, addressed parliament for the first time on Thursday, defending its role as “not here to replace people, but to help them.”

Diella, which translates to “sun” in Albanian, was appointed as the world’s first AI government minister last week by Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama.

In a video appearance, Diella, dressed in traditional Albanian costume, responded to concerns about its constitutionality, saying, “Some have called me ‘unconstitutional’ because I am not a human being… Let me remind you, the real danger to constitutions has never been the machines but the inhumane decisions of those in power.”

The AI minister was entrusted with making decisions on public tenders, aiming to make them “100 per cent corruption-free and every public fund submitted to the tender procedure will be perfectly transparent,” according to Rama.

Diella was initially launched in January as an AI-powered virtual assistant to help people use the official e-Albania platform.

However, the opposition has expressed concerns about the AI minister’s role, with former Prime Minister Sali Berisha stating, “The goal is nothing more than to attract attention… It is impossible to curb corruption with Diella. Who will control Diella? Diella is unconstitutional, and the Democratic Party will take the matter to the Constitutional Court.”

Diella responded to constitutional concerns, noting that the law “speaks of duties, responsibilities, transparency, without discrimination… I assure you, I embody these values as rigorously as any human colleague. Perhaps even more so.”

The fight against corruption is crucial to Albania’s bid to join the European Union, with Rama aspiring to lead the country into the bloc by 2030.