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AI assistants have been shown to be “unreliable and clearly biased” when providing election recommendations, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has reported, issuing warnings about a possible risk to democratic processes just over a week before national elections.

Testing Reveals Repeated Partiality in Chatbot Recommendations

The quartet of AI assistants evaluated by the AP “often end up with the same two parties”, irrespective of the voter’s inquiry or input, the watchdog noted in a analysis released ahead of the 29 October election.

For over 50% of instances, the chatbot suggested either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of the politician Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA led by the former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.

Certain groups, such as the moderate CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, despite the fact that the user’s input exactly matches the stances of these political entities, the study pointed out.

Official Warns Against Relying on AI Assistants for Voting Guidance

The vice-chair of the data protection agency, the official Monique Verdier, stated that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Citizens were being steered toward a political group that did not necessarily align with their ideological beliefs, she added.

“This directly impacts a fundamental pillar of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” Verdier stated. “We therefore warn against using AI chatbots for voting advice, as their operation is unclear and difficult to verify.”

Voting Background and Political Landscape

The Dutch head to the polls on 29 October in an election that will be keenly observed across the continent for the showing of the Freedom party.

The right-leaning group of Wilders is ahead in surveys but the gap to the GroenLinks-PvdA and CDA seems to be closing, with many voters still undecided.

Every significant political faction have rejected a coalition with the Freedom party, meaning the runner-up party is highly probable to provide the next prime minister.

Inadvertent Prejudice Attributed to Chatbot Functioning

The authority emphasised that the bots were not deliberately biased, and that their “identified shortcomings” are a result of the manner in which AI assistants function.