Actor behind Albania's AI 'minister' wants her face back
An actor whose face was used by Albania's government for an AI chatbot that it promoted to be a "minister" told AFP on Wednesday that she had launched a legal fight to stop the use of her image and accused the government of "exploitation."Prime Minister Edi Rama announced in September that an AI system, dubbed Diella, would oversee a new public tenders portfolio as a "minister" that he pledged would cut corruption.The move drew criticism from the opposition and experts who questioned the system's accountability and transparency.Well-known Albanian actor Anila Bisha, whose face and voice were used to create Diella's avatar, said she had not approved her identity for use in that way.Bisha said she filed a petition with the administrative court earlier this week requesting the suspension of the use of her image."It's an exploitation of my identity and my personal data," the 57-year-old actress told AFP.According to Bisha, she had originally signed a contract authorising the use of her image until the end of 2025 to represent a virtual assistant on an online government services portal. But after Rama's government announced that Diella would become a minister, a video featuring a computer-generated version of her addressed parliament.In the video, purportedly made with AI, the "minister" appeared as a woman dressed in a traditional Albanian outfit and said it was "not here to replace people."Bisha also discovered that the National Agency for Information Society, which developed the AI, filed a patent on her image and voice without informing her -- a move that she says affected her ability to work.Despite reaching out to authorities in the hope of negotiating a solution, she received no reply and decided to take legal action.Diella, which means "sun" in Albanian, is responsible for all decisions relating to public procurement tenders — in a move that Rama promised would make the process "corruption-free."Agence France-Presse
An actor whose face was used by Albania's government for an AI chatbot that it promoted to be a "minister" told AFP on Wednesday that she had launched a legal fight to stop the use of her image and accused the government of "exploitation."Prime Minister Edi Rama announced in September that an AI system, dubbed Diella, would oversee a new public tenders portfolio as a "minister" that he pledged would cut corruption.The move drew criticism from the opposition and experts who questioned the system's accountability and transparency.Well-known Albanian actor Anila Bisha, whose face and voice were used to create Diella's avatar, said she had not approved her identity for use in that way.Bisha said she filed a petition with the administrative court earlier this week requesting the suspension of the use of her image."It's an exploitation of my identity and my personal data," the 57-year-old actress told AFP.According to Bisha, she had originally signed a contract authorising the use of her image until the end of 2025 to represent a virtual assistant on an online government services portal. But after Rama's government announced that Diella would become a minister, a video featuring a computer-generated version of her addressed parliament.In the video, purportedly made with AI, the "minister" appeared as a woman dressed in a traditional Albanian outfit and said it was "not here to replace people."Bisha also discovered that the National Agency for Information Society, which developed the AI, filed a patent on her image and voice without informing her -- a move that she says affected her ability to work.Despite reaching out to authorities in the hope of negotiating a solution, she received no reply and decided to take legal action.Diella, which means "sun" in Albanian, is responsible for all decisions relating to public procurement tenders — in a move that Rama promised would make the process "corruption-free."Agence France-Presse
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