Sawt Falasteen - The woman fighting to reclaim her face from Albania's 'AI minister'

Last September, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced with much fanfare he had appointed what he claimed was the first AI-generated minister, tasked with preventing corruption in public tenders.

Within days, the "minister" would deliver its inaugural parliamentary speech.

"I am not here to replace people, but to help them," the bot, a digital doppelganger of Bisha in traditional Albanian dress, said in a video message that would garner headlines around the world.

But Bisha, watching her familiar face deliver a speech she knew nothing about, in a role she never agreed to, was left reeling.

"I couldn't believe it when I saw myself delivering a speech in parliament, when I heard my voice saying that I am a minister," the 57-year-old told AFP.

"I was in shock, I cried so much."

- A tough job -

In early 2025, Bisha agreed to lend her face and voice to a virtual assistant for an online government services portal -- aimed at helping people navigate bureaucracy.

She was delighted at the time, but it was tough work.

To create a responsive and realistic avatar for the chatbot, she stood for hours speaking nonstop.

Every movement of her mouth and every sound had to be recorded so the bot, dubbed "Diella" or "Sun" in Albanian, could respond naturally to user requests.

Within a few months, Diella had recorded nearly a million interactions and issued over 36,000 documents through the platform -- a success hailed by the government and users.

"I received so many congratulations about Diella," Bisha said.

- One Sun, 83 children -

In September, Rama suddenly "promoted" the chatbot to be minister of public procurement -- a move that he promised would make public tenders "100 percent corruption-free".

But with little public detail, the announcement drew sharp criticism from the opposition and experts who raised constitutional and accountability issues in a country where graft is widespread.

Bisha, too, said she was left in the dark and spent months reaching out to the government.

"The use of my image and my voice for political purposes is something very serious for me," Bisha said.

According to the actor, she had signed a contract only for the use of her image on the e-services platform, and the agreement lapsed in December last year.

The government ignored her messages and Rama pressed on.

Diella was "pregnant", he told a Berlin conference in October, and she would soon give birth to 83 children, one for each of his MPs.

Bisha was disgusted.

"People who don't like the prime minister hate me, and I feel so hurt."

- 'Getting scary' -

Rama continues to promote Diella abroad as part of his promise to root out corruption -- a key requirement for the country's EU ambitions.

Since December, the head of the department responsible for the AI has been under house arrest for his alleged links to an illegal manipulation of government tenders.

Rama's own deputy is also embroiled in a corruption scandal.

Bisha has abandoned her hopes of an amicable settlement with the government and launched a legal fight against "Diella" earlier this month.

On Monday, an attempt to have the use of her image suspended ahead of a full legal challenge was rejected by an administrative court.

But her lawyer said they would lodge the main suit within days, including a claim for one million euros ($1.17 million) in damages for a violation of her image rights.

In a statement, a government spokeswoman said the lawsuit was "nonsense", adding: "But we welcome the opportunity to solve it once and for all in a court of law."

Bisha said she would keep fighting until she reclaimed her identity -- even if it meant taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

"I don't know what could happen with my voice and my figure, what else could be done?" she said.

Although she still doubts that an AI could ever replace an actor's ability to convey "beautiful emotion", her recent experience has shaken her hopes for the future.

"I don't know, its development is coming, and it's getting scary."

E.Aziz--SF-PST