AI assistants are proving to be “unreliable and clearly biased” when providing election recommendations, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has stated, issuing warnings about a possible risk to democracy just over a week before national elections.
Testing Reveals Consistent Bias in Chatbot Recommendations
The quartet of AI assistants tested by the AP “often end up with the same two parties”, regardless of the voter’s inquiry or input, the watchdog noted in a analysis published ahead of the late October vote.
In more than half of the cases, the chatbot suggested either the right-wing PVV of the politician Geert Wilders or the progressive GroenLinks-PvdA led by the former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.
Some parties, such as the moderate CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, even when the user’s input precisely aligns with the positions of these parties, the study indicated.
Official Warns Against Relying on AI Assistants for Voting Guidance
The deputy head of the AP, Monique Verdier, commented that while AI assistants appear to be smart resources, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Voters were being pushed toward a party that did not necessarily align with their ideological beliefs, she emphasized.
“This directly impacts a fundamental pillar of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” said Verdier. “We therefore warn against employing AI assistants for election recommendations, as their functioning is opaque and hard to confirm.”
Voting Background and Political Landscape
Netherlands citizens vote on October 29 in an electoral contest that will be keenly observed across the continent for the performance of the Freedom party.
The right-leaning group of Wilders is leading the polls but the lead over the GroenLinks-PvdA and CDA appears to be narrowing, with many voters still undecided.
All major parties have rejected a coalition with the PVV, meaning the party that comes second is highly probable 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 “noted flaws” are a result of the way AI chatbots operate.
