AI chatbots have been shown to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when providing election recommendations, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has reported, issuing warnings about a possible risk to democracy just over a week before national elections.
Testing Reveals Consistent Bias in AI Suggestions
The quartet of AI assistants evaluated by the authority “frequently recommend identical two parties”, regardless of the user’s question or command, the watchdog noted in a analysis published ahead of the 29 October election.
In more than half of the cases, the AI recommended either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of Geert Wilders or the progressive GroenLinks-PvdA headed by the former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.
Some parties, such as the centre-right CDA, “are almost never mentioned”, despite the fact that the user’s input exactly matches the stances of these political entities, the study pointed out.
Authority Figure Cautions Against Using AI Chatbots for Election Advice
The vice-chair of the data protection agency, Monique Verdier, commented that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Voters were being pushed toward a political group that did not necessarily align with their ideological beliefs, she added.
“This immediately affects a cornerstone of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” Verdier stated. “We therefore warn against employing AI assistants for voting advice, as their functioning is opaque and hard to confirm.”
Election Context and Political Landscape
Netherlands citizens vote on October 29 in an electoral contest that will be keenly observed around Europe for the showing of the Freedom party.
The far-right party of Geert Wilders is ahead in surveys but the gap to the left-wing and centre-right parties seems to be closing, with many voters still undecided.
All major parties have ruled out an alliance with the PVV, meaning the runner-up party is highly probable to provide the next prime minister.
Unintentional Bias Linked to Chatbot Functioning
The AP emphasised that the bots were not deliberately biased, and that their “noted flaws” are a consequence of the way AI chatbots operate.
