Artificial Intelligence Assistants Deliver ‘Unreliable and Biased’ Election Guidance, States Netherlands Regulator

AI chatbots are proving to be “unreliable and clearly biased” when offering voting advice, the Netherlands’ data watchdog has stated, raising alarms about a possible risk to democratic processes just over a week before national elections.

Testing Reveals Consistent Bias in Chatbot Recommendations

The quartet of AI assistants evaluated by the authority “frequently recommend identical two parties”, irrespective of the voter’s inquiry or input, the watchdog noted in a report published ahead of the 29 October election.

In more than half of the cases, the chatbot suggested either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA led by the ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans.

Some parties, such as the centre-right CDA, “are almost never mentioned”, even when the voter’s query exactly matches the stances of these parties, the study pointed out.

Official Warns Against Using AI Chatbots for Voting Guidance

The deputy head of the AP, the official Monique Verdier, commented that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Citizens were being steered toward a party that did not necessarily align with their political views, she added.

“This directly impacts a fundamental pillar of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections,” said Verdier. “We thus caution against employing AI assistants for voting advice, as their operation is unclear and hard to confirm.”

Election Context and Political Landscape

The Dutch head to the polls on October 29 in an election that will be closely watched around Europe for the performance of the Freedom party.

The far-right party of Wilders is leading the polls but the lead over the left-wing and centre-right parties appears to be narrowing, with many voters yet to make up their minds.

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

Unintentional Bias Attributed to Chatbot Functioning

The authority emphasised that the bots were not deliberately biased, and that their “identified shortcomings” are a consequence of the way AI chatbots operate.