New Delhi: The mayor of Albania’s capital city is in jail over allegations of corruption and financial crimes. But the city has not felt his absence.
Mayor Erion Veliaj is dispersing information through an AI-generated video, and this has caused a “stir”.
“I made another commitment that I will never forget: food in schools,” said the Veliaj clone, wearing a blue suit, adding, “I will keep this promise even from this cell where they have locked me up.”
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“My hostage situation”
In the seventeen-second video posted on Instagram a day ago, the AI mayor quite confidently addresses the citizens.
He said that he has been a hostage for “20 months and I can only greet you with artificial intelligence”. Veliaj’s clone makes promises to continue his work even “from the cell…I hug you with longing, you and your wonderful children.”
The video posted on IG has more than 3,000 likes, with people expressing their support.
Veliaj was arrested last year in February. After his arrest, the city’s snap elections that were supposed to happen in November were called off after a court ruling.
Before leaving for prison, Veliaj delegated his duties to several mayors, but he is going to be the acting mayor from jail till the next elections, which are going to happen in 2027.
Albanian officials have used AI before. Prime Minister Edi Rama in 2025 introduced Diella, the world’s first artificial intelligence virtual minister.
Rama’s government took one step further by appointing Diella to the cabinet. Her duty was to find corruption in government projects.
A few months after that, a woman objected, claiming that her face and voice were quite familiar to Diella.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)