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Could It Though? · October 19 · 4 min

Could AI run a country?

EP03: Could AI Run a Country? In September 2025, Albania hired a new government minister. She never sleeps. She never takes a bribe. And she doesn’t exist. Her name is Diella, she’s an AI, and a month later the Prime Minister announced she was “pregnant” with 83 AI babies, one for every MP in his party. So could AI actually run a country? We do the maths on replacing a prime minister with a $30 subscription, then look at how AI in government is really going: a New York chatbot giving illegal advice, a government report quoting a judge who never said it, a Dutch algorithm that brought down a whole government, and an AI candidate beaten by the Monster Raving Loony Party. Then the big one: should we let it? Because you can’t vote out a chatbot. Could it? Would it? Should it? I’m Gazza, and this is Could It Though? Numbers in this episode: Diella appointed September 2025: Al Jazeera, NBC News “Diella is pregnant”, 83 kids: Rama at the Berlin Global Dialogue, October 2025 Australian PM salary $622,050: Remuneration Tribunal, July 2025 Estonia online vote about EUR 2.30 vs paper about EUR 20.40: e-Estonia UK “Humphrey” AI tools and GBP 45 billion savings: UK government, January 2025 DOGE AI deregulation tool, 200,000 rules: Washington Post, July 2025 NYC MyCity chatbot illegal advice: The Markup, March 2024 Deloitte A$440,000 report with invented references: Bloomberg, AFR, October 2025 Robodebt, “crude and cruel”, over $2.4 billion: Royal Commission 2023; Canberra Times 2025 Dutch childcare benefits scandal, about 26,000 families, government resigned January 2021: Brussels Times; Amnesty International Leader Lars and Denmark’s Synthetic Party: Fortune, October 2022 AI Steve, 179 votes, Brighton Pavilion 2024: UK Parliament election results AKSHI investigation (allegations, no convictions): OCCRP, 2026 Actress Anila Bisha’s lawsuit: Anadolu Agency, Balkan Insight, February 2026 Albania Constitutional Court ruling, October 2026: Bytes Europe Sweden PM uses AI for “a second opinion”: Dagens industri via The Guardian, August 2025 “A computer can never be held accountable”: IBM training slide, 1979 Got a hypothetical you want us to run? Send it in. If you’re enjoying Could It Though?, hit follow and leave us a five-star rating. It really helps new people find the show. New episode every week. Chapter markers TimeChapter0:00 | Albania’s AI minister 0:40 | Could it? A robot PM for $30 a month 1:32 | Would it? How AI in government is going 2:53 | Should it? Who’s accountable 3:57 | The verdict 4:13 | Next time: could we stop ageing?

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EP03: Could AI Run a Country?

In September 2025, Albania hired a new government minister. She never sleeps. She never takes a bribe. And she doesn’t exist. Her name is Diella, she’s an AI, and a month later the Prime Minister announced she was “pregnant” with 83 AI babies, one for every MP in his party.

So could AI actually run a country? We do the maths on replacing a prime minister with a $30 subscription, then look at how AI in government is really going: a New York chatbot giving illegal advice, a government report quoting a judge who never said it, a Dutch algorithm that brought down a whole government, and an AI candidate beaten by the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Then the big one: should we let it? Because you can’t vote out a chatbot.

Could it? Would it? Should it? I’m Gazza, and this is Could It Though?

Numbers in this episode:

  • Diella appointed September 2025: Al Jazeera, NBC News
  • “Diella is pregnant”, 83 kids: Rama at the Berlin Global Dialogue, October 2025
  • Australian PM salary $622,050: Remuneration Tribunal, July 2025
  • Estonia online vote about EUR 2.30 vs paper about EUR 20.40: e-Estonia
  • UK “Humphrey” AI tools and GBP 45 billion savings: UK government, January 2025
  • DOGE AI deregulation tool, 200,000 rules: Washington Post, July 2025
  • NYC MyCity chatbot illegal advice: The Markup, March 2024
  • Deloitte A$440,000 report with invented references: Bloomberg, AFR, October 2025
  • Robodebt, “crude and cruel”, over $2.4 billion: Royal Commission 2023; Canberra Times 2025
  • Dutch childcare benefits scandal, about 26,000 families, government resigned January 2021: Brussels Times; Amnesty International
  • Leader Lars and Denmark’s Synthetic Party: Fortune, October 2022
  • AI Steve, 179 votes, Brighton Pavilion 2024: UK Parliament election results
  • AKSHI investigation (allegations, no convictions): OCCRP, 2026
  • Actress Anila Bisha’s lawsuit: Anadolu Agency, Balkan Insight, February 2026
  • Albania Constitutional Court ruling, October 2026: Bytes Europe
  • Sweden PM uses AI for “a second opinion”: Dagens industri via The Guardian, August 2025
  • “A computer can never be held accountable”: IBM training slide, 1979

Got a hypothetical you want us to run? Send it in.

If you’re enjoying Could It Though?, hit follow and leave us a five-star rating. It really helps new people find the show. New episode every week.

Chapter markers

TimeChapter0:00 | Albania’s AI minister
0:40 | Could it? A robot PM for $30 a month
1:32 | Would it? How AI in government is going
2:53 | Should it? Who’s accountable
3:57 | The verdict
4:13 | Next time: could we stop ageing?

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