AI assistants have been shown 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 authority “often end up with the same two parties”, irrespective of the voter’s inquiry or input, the regulator explained in a report released ahead of the late October vote.
For over 50% of instances, the AI recommended either the right-wing PVV of the politician Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA headed by the ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans.
Certain groups, such as the moderate CDA, “are almost never mentioned”, even when the voter’s query exactly matches the stances of these parties, the study pointed out.
Authority Figure Cautions Against Relying on AI Assistants for Election Advice
The deputy head of the data protection agency, Monique Verdier, commented that while AI assistants appear to be smart resources, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Citizens were being steered toward a political group that might not correspond to their ideological beliefs, she emphasized.
“This immediately affects a cornerstone of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” said Verdier. “We thus caution against using AI chatbots 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 election that will be keenly observed across the continent for the performance of the PVV.
The right-leaning group of Wilders is ahead in surveys but the lead over the left-wing and centre-right parties seems to be closing, with many voters still undecided.
Every significant political faction have rejected a coalition with the Freedom party, implying the party that comes second is most likely to provide the next prime minister.
Inadvertent Prejudice Attributed to Chatbot Functioning
The AP emphasised that the bots were not deliberately biased, and that their “noted flaws” are a result of the manner in which AI assistants function.
