🔗 Share this article Artificial Intelligence Assistants Deliver ‘Misleading and Partial’ Election Guidance, Claims Dutch Watchdog AI chatbots have been shown to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when offering voting advice, 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 Repeated Partiality in AI Suggestions 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 regulator explained in a analysis published ahead of the late October vote. In more than half of the cases, the AI recommended either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of the politician Geert Wilders or the progressive GroenLinks-PvdA headed by the former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans. Certain groups, such as the moderate CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, even when the user’s input exactly matches the stances of these political entities, the report indicated. Official Warns Against Using AI Chatbots for Election Advice The vice-chair of the AP, Monique Verdier, stated that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Citizens were being steered toward a political group that might not correspond to their political views, she emphasized. “This directly impacts a cornerstone of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” Verdier stated. “We therefore warn against employing AI assistants for election recommendations, as their functioning is opaque and difficult to verify.” Election Context and Political Landscape The Dutch head to the polls on October 29 in an electoral contest that will be keenly observed around Europe for the showing of the PVV. The far-right party of Wilders is ahead in surveys but the gap to the left-wing and centre-right parties appears to be narrowing, with numerous electors yet to make up their minds. Every significant political faction have ruled out an alliance with the PVV, meaning the party that comes second is highly probable to provide the next prime minister. Inadvertent Prejudice Linked to AI Operation The AP stressed that the bots were not deliberately biased, and that their “noted flaws” are a consequence of the way AI chatbots operate.