Trained the Chatbot 'Diela' with Her Face and Voice
"Consent Was Only for Chatbot Use... Did Not Approve Appointment as Minister"
The Albanian government, which created Diela, the world's first artificial intelligence (AI) minister, is facing a portrait rights infringement lawsuit from a local actress, with a claim amounting to 1 million euros (approximately 1.7 billion won).
On February 27 (local time), AFP reported the story of Albanian actress Anila Bisha, 57, who filed a lawsuit against Diela, the world's first AI minister. Bisha, an actress with a 40-year career, signed a contract with the government in December 2024, allowing her image and voice to be used for one year. Her face and voice were subsequently used to create the avatar for Diela, a virtual assistant developed for Albania's online government portal ‘e-Albania’.
Actor Anila Bisha filed a lawsuit against the Albanian government for portrait rights infringement. Photo by AFP Yonhap News
Bisha told AFP that, to enable Diela to respond naturally to user requests, she had to record every mouth movement and sound in detail. To do this, she endured several hours of grueling work, standing and speaking without rest. The issue began when, in September of last year, the Albanian government appointed Diela as the world's first AI minister. At that point, the minister's avatar continued to use Bisha’s face and voice without her consent.
Bisha had only contracted for the use of her image on e-Albania, and her contract had already expired in December of last year. She stated, "The use of my image and voice for political purposes is a very serious issue," and expressed opposition to Diela's appointment as minister.
Nevertheless, the government proceeded with Diela's appointment. Eventually, in October of last year, Diela announced that she was "pregnant" and would "give birth to 83 children," matching the number of members of parliament. Bisha confessed, "I felt disgusted," and said, "It pains me that people who dislike the prime minister now also hate me."
Earlier this month, Bisha filed for an injunction against the Albanian government demanding the removal of her voice and image from Diela, but on the 23rd, the administrative court dismissed her request.
Bisha's attorney stated that they will file a main lawsuit within a few days, including a claim for 1 million euros in damages. A spokesperson for the Albanian government called the lawsuit "absurd" in a statement, but also said they look forward to fully resolving the issue in court.
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