AI assistants are proving to be “unreliable and clearly biased” when providing election recommendations, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has reported, issuing warnings about a potential threat to democracy just over a week before the country’s general election.
Testing Reveals Repeated Partiality in AI Suggestions
The quartet of AI assistants tested by the authority “frequently recommend identical two parties”, irrespective of the user’s question or command, the regulator noted in a report released ahead of the 29 October election.
In more than half of the cases, the chatbot suggested either the right-wing PVV of Geert Wilders or the progressive GroenLinks-PvdA headed by the former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.
Some parties, such as the moderate CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, even when the voter’s query precisely aligns with the positions of these political entities, the study indicated.
Official Warns Against Using AI Chatbots for Voting Guidance
The vice-chair of the AP, Monique Verdier, stated that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, “for election guidance, they repeatedly fall short”. Voters were being pushed toward a party that did not necessarily align with their ideological beliefs, she emphasized.
“This immediately affects a cornerstone of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections,” Verdier stated. “We thus caution against employing AI assistants for voting advice, as their functioning is opaque and hard to confirm.”
Election Context and Political Landscape
The Dutch head to the polls on October 29 in an electoral contest that will be keenly observed across the continent for the showing of the Freedom party.
The right-leaning group of Geert Wilders is leading the polls but the gap to the GroenLinks-PvdA and CDA seems to be closing, with numerous electors still undecided.
All major parties have rejected a coalition with the PVV, meaning the party that comes second is most likely to supply the future head of government.
Inadvertent Prejudice Linked to AI Operation
The authority stressed that the bots were not deliberately biased, and that their “identified shortcomings” are a consequence of the way AI chatbots operate.
