Artificial Intelligence Assistants Provide ‘Misleading and Partial’ Voting Advice, States Netherlands Regulator

AI assistants have been shown to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when providing election recommendations, the Netherlands’ data watchdog has stated, raising alarms about a potential threat to democratic processes just eight days before national elections.

Testing Reveals Repeated Partiality in AI Suggestions

The quartet of AI assistants tested by the authority “often end up with the same two parties”, regardless of the user’s question or command, the regulator explained in a analysis published ahead of the late October vote.

For over 50% of instances, the chatbot suggested either the right-wing PVV of Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA headed by the ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans.

Some parties, such as the moderate CDA, “are almost never mentioned”, even when the user’s input exactly matches the positions of these political entities, the study pointed out.

Official Warns Against Using AI Chatbots for Voting Guidance

The vice-chair of the AP, the official Monique Verdier, commented that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, “for election guidance, they repeatedly fall short”. Voters were being pushed toward a party that might not correspond to their ideological beliefs, she emphasized.

“This directly impacts a cornerstone of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” said Verdier. “We therefore warn against using AI chatbots for election recommendations, as their functioning is opaque and hard to confirm.”

Voting Background and Political Landscape

Netherlands citizens vote on 29 October in an electoral contest that will be keenly observed across the continent for the showing of the PVV.

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 many voters still undecided.

Every significant political faction have rejected a coalition with the Freedom party, meaning the party that comes second is highly probable to provide the next prime minister.

Unintentional Bias Attributed to Chatbot Functioning

The AP emphasised that the AI systems were not intentionally prejudiced, and that their “noted flaws” are a consequence of the way AI chatbots operate.