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AI chatbots have been shown to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when providing election recommendations, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has stated, issuing warnings about a potential threat to democracy just eight days before the country’s general election.

Testing Reveals Repeated Partiality in Chatbot Recommendations

The four chatbots evaluated by the AP “often end up with the same two parties”, irrespective of the user’s question or command, the regulator explained in a analysis published ahead of the 29 October election.

For over 50% of instances, the chatbot suggested either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of the politician Geert Wilders or the progressive GroenLinks-PvdA led by the former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.

Certain groups, such as the centre-right CDA, “are almost never mentioned”, despite the fact that the voter’s query precisely aligns with the positions of these political entities, the study indicated.

Authority Figure Cautions Against Using AI Chatbots for Voting Guidance

The deputy head of the data protection agency, Monique Verdier, stated that while AI assistants appear to be smart resources, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Voters were being pushed toward a party that might not correspond to their political views, she emphasized.

“This directly impacts a cornerstone of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections,” said Verdier. “We thus caution against employing AI assistants for voting advice, as their functioning is opaque and difficult to verify.”

Election Context and Party Dynamics

Netherlands citizens vote on 29 October in an election that will be closely watched around Europe for the showing of the PVV.

The far-right party of Geert Wilders is ahead in surveys but the gap to the left-wing and centre-right parties seems to be closing, with many voters still undecided.

Every significant political faction have ruled out an alliance with the PVV, implying the party that comes second is highly probable to supply the future head of government.

Inadvertent Prejudice Linked to Chatbot Functioning

The authority stressed that the AI systems were not intentionally prejudiced, and that their “identified shortcomings” are a consequence of the manner in which AI assistants function.