🔗 Share this article Artificial Intelligence Assistants Provide ‘Unreliable and Biased’ Election Guidance, Claims Dutch Watchdog AI chatbots are proving to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when offering voting advice, the Netherlands’ data watchdog has stated, raising alarms about a potential threat to democracy just eight days before the country’s general election. Study Shows Repeated Partiality in Chatbot Recommendations The four chatbots tested by the AP “frequently recommend identical two parties”, regardless of the voter’s inquiry or input, the regulator explained in a report published ahead of the late October vote. In more than half of the cases, the chatbot suggested either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of the politician Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA led by the ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans. Some parties, such as the moderate CDA, “are almost never mentioned”, even when the voter’s query exactly matches the stances of these political entities, the study indicated. Official Warns Against Relying on AI Assistants for Election Advice The deputy head of the AP, the official Monique Verdier, stated that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, “for election guidance, they repeatedly fall short”. Voters were being pushed toward a political group 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 using AI chatbots for election recommendations, as their functioning is opaque and hard to confirm.” Voting Background and Party Dynamics Netherlands citizens vote on 29 October in an election that will be closely watched across the continent for the showing 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. All major parties have ruled out an alliance with the Freedom party, implying the party that comes second is most likely to supply the future head of government. Inadvertent Prejudice Attributed to Chatbot Functioning The AP stressed that the AI systems were not intentionally prejudiced, and that their “noted flaws” are a consequence of the manner in which AI assistants function.