AI Chatbots Provide ‘Unreliable and Biased’ Voting Advice, States Netherlands Regulator

AI chatbots are proving to be “unreliable and clearly biased” when offering voting advice, the Netherlands’ data watchdog has reported, raising alarms about a possible risk to democracy just over a week before the country’s general election.

Testing Reveals Repeated Partiality in Chatbot Recommendations

The four chatbots 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 analysis published 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 ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans.

Certain groups, such as the moderate CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, despite the fact that the voter’s query exactly matches the stances of these parties, the report pointed out.

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”. 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 difficult to verify.”

Election Context and Party Dynamics

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

The right-leaning group of Geert Wilders is ahead in surveys but the lead over the left-wing and centre-right parties seems to be closing, with numerous electors still undecided.

Every significant political faction have rejected a coalition with the Freedom party, implying the runner-up party is highly probable to provide the next prime minister.

Unintentional Bias Attributed to AI Operation

The authority stressed that the bots were not deliberately biased, and that their “noted flaws” are a consequence of the manner in which AI assistants function.