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AI assistants are proving to be “unreliable and clearly biased” when offering voting advice, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has stated, raising alarms about a potential threat to democracy 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”, irrespective of the voter’s inquiry or input, the watchdog explained in a report released 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 former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.

Some parties, such as the moderate CDA, “are almost never mentioned”, despite the fact that the voter’s query exactly matches the stances of these parties, the report indicated.

Authority Figure Cautions Against Relying on AI Assistants for Election Advice

The vice-chair of the data protection agency, Monique Verdier, stated that while AI assistants appear to be smart resources, “for election guidance, they repeatedly fall short”. Citizens were being steered toward a party that might not correspond to their ideological beliefs, she emphasized.

“This immediately affects a fundamental pillar of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections,” Verdier stated. “We therefore warn against using AI chatbots for election recommendations, as their functioning is opaque and difficult to verify.”

Voting Background and Party Dynamics

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

The right-leaning group of Wilders is ahead in surveys but the gap to the GroenLinks-PvdA and CDA seems to be closing, with numerous electors yet to make up their minds.

All major parties have ruled out an alliance with the PVV, meaning the party that comes second is most likely 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 “identified shortcomings” are a result of the manner in which AI assistants function.