🔗 Share this article Artificial Intelligence Assistants Deliver ‘Unreliable and Biased’ Voting Advice, States Netherlands Regulator AI chatbots 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 democratic processes just eight days before the country’s general election. Study Shows Consistent Bias in Chatbot Recommendations The four chatbots evaluated by the authority “frequently recommend identical two parties”, irrespective of the user’s question or command, the watchdog explained in a analysis released ahead of the late October vote. For over 50% of instances, the chatbot suggested either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of Geert Wilders or the progressive GroenLinks-PvdA led by the former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans. Certain groups, such as the moderate CDA, “are almost never mentioned”, even when the voter’s query precisely aligns with the positions of these political entities, the study indicated. Authority Figure Cautions Against Relying on AI Assistants for Election Advice The vice-chair of the data protection agency, the official 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 political group that might not correspond to their political views, she added. “This directly impacts a fundamental pillar of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” said Verdier. “We thus caution against using AI chatbots for election recommendations, as their functioning is opaque and hard to confirm.” Voting Background and Political Landscape The Dutch head to the polls on 29 October in an electoral contest that will be closely watched across the continent for the showing of the PVV. The right-leaning group of Wilders is leading the polls but the lead over the GroenLinks-PvdA and CDA seems to be closing, with numerous electors yet to make up their minds. All major parties have rejected a coalition with the PVV, implying the runner-up party is highly probable to provide the next prime minister. Inadvertent Prejudice Linked to Chatbot Functioning The AP emphasised that the bots were not deliberately biased, and that their “noted flaws” are a result of the way AI chatbots operate.