00:01Albanian actor Anila Bisha is suing the government for using her face and voice to create Diela,
00:07one of the world's first AI-generated virtual ministers.
00:13Bisha says she never gave consent and that the character has led to online harassment and unwanted attention.
00:22I went through a truly very bad period and honestly wasn't feeling emotionally very well.
00:30I had real problems and never expected everything to get so much worse.
00:34Initially, I said this was just a joke, but then I saw every day the strangest memes started spreading.
00:41Bisha says she allowed her likeness to be used last year to create an AI-powered virtual assistant for a
00:47government website,
00:48but not as a virtual politician on the prime minister's team.
00:52Prime Minister Eddie Rama unveiled Diela last September to oversee the awarding of government contracts and anti-corruption efforts.
01:02Bisha says the association with the prime minister has led people who don't like him to detest her,
01:08even though she plays no part in politics.
01:11Since December, his government's popularity has taken a hit after prosecutors indicted his deputy, Belinda Beluku,
01:19for alleged corruption, which she denies.
01:22As for the virtual minister, the government has denied any wrongdoing and its press office called Bisha's lawsuit,
01:29quote, nonsense, but that they welcomed the opportunity to solve it once and for all in a court of law.
01:35The lawsuit is seeking over $1 million worth of damages,
01:39which Bisha's lawyer argues is a fair penalty based on Albanian data protection laws.
01:45A court is expected to rule on the matter on Monday.
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