Technology in Modern Politics
by Milan Riley
Since the beginnings of social media in the 1990s and the boom of advancements in artificial intelligence after 2012, politicians have used modern technology as a means to communicate with the public. Presidents, prime ministers, and many government officials and organizations have social media accounts to serve as platforms for sharing their political beliefs and informing the public about new policies. In the United States, numerous federal agencies, such as Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, the Department of Education and, most notably, the White House have verified accounts on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. These agencies also make use of artificial intelligence to analyze data and serve as a virtual assistant to help them better serve their constituents.
Modern technology has allowed for a new first in mankind’s history: the appointment of an artificial intelligence as a government minister. On September 11, 2025, Prime Minister Edi Rama of Albania appointed as a minister of state an AI system called Diella. Its duties include overseeing public procurement, processing government tenders, comparing bids from private companies, and preventing corruption in public spending. Diella was first developed by Albania’s National Agency for Information Society (AKSHI), who partnered with American companies Microsoft and OpenAI, to be a virtual assistant for citizens on the e-Albania website.
The introduction of Diella in Parliament
Albanian Parliament throwing trash at the Prime Minister
The Prime Minister’s decision was met with great backlash. Opposing lawmakers threw bottles and trash at Rama’s cabinet as they exited the September 11 parliamentary session. Controversies have emerged over the possible manipulation of the AI by misinformation, flaws in its code, cybersecurity attacks, or by the human overseers of the system. Furthermore, there are objections to Diella’s reliance on foreign companies. The foundational language models being tied to American companies could put Albania in a vulnerable position of strategic dependencies. Perhaps the most concerning facet to civilians was the lack of accountability. If an AI makes a mistake or becomes corrupted, who would be held responsible? Multiple parties could be intertwined in such a scandal: the government, the companies, and the individual coders. Albania is now testing the question of whether an AI can effectively serve in government positions or not. Parliamentary protests and legal challenges in court from the opposition party could end the world’s first AI minister’s reign relatively shortly, or we could be witnessing the start of a permanent shift in political dynamics.
A protest against Albania’s Prime Minister
An Albanian news site discussing Diella
Another country that has recently demonstrated the significant political influence that modern technology can have is Nepal. When the government banned social media, many Gen Z citizens saw this as an attempt to silence those speaking out against corruption, inequality, and high youth unemployment. A series of protests set government buildings on fire and pushed Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli into resigning, a conflict that resulted in over 70 casualties. To complete this “Gen Z Revolution,” a group of young Nepali activists then used the social media platform Discord to select an interim prime minister. On September 10, 2025, an online poll was organized to vote on a final candidate, leading to the former chief justice, Sushila Karki, being sworn into office on September 12. This has become the first instance of civilians using an instant messaging app to select their country’s leader. Similar to the controversies surrounding Albania’s AI minister, skeptics have pointed out that the open, anonymous poll allowed foreigners to vote and created a potential target for hacking vulnerabilities introduced by this new “Discord democracy." Only time can prove, or disprove, the stability of Nepal’s choice to use a common chat app to make nation-wide electoral decisions. Is it time for the next generation to make changes to the historical norm, or is it still too early?
Nepal’s Discord poll to elect a leader
Protestors storming a building in Nepal
Gen Z protestors waving the One Piece flag, which is a popular anime
While Albania and Nepal may be the first countries to use social media and artificial intelligence in these ways, they will not be the last. The reliance on technology in the political landscape has only increased as advancements arise. This brings up the question: how much political power should technology be trusted with? Are digital corruption and data flaws less or more of a risk to citizens than human corruption and errors? In the words of Stephen Hawking, “artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race… It would take off on its own and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate.” Many experts agree with this claim, in which case placing AI in positions of power could be a catalyst for potentially dangerous results. However, others argue that AI can only learn what humans are capable of teaching it. Therefore, humans could simply be utilizing AI and social media in politics as new tools similar to those we’ve created in the past to further society. The answer to whether the risk of these technologies outweighs the benefits, or vice versa, depends on each individual’s own beliefs, as well as ultimately each country’s regulations and laws.
