Artificial Intelligence Assistants Provide ‘Unreliable and Biased’ Voting Advice, Claims Netherlands Regulator

AI assistants have been shown to be “unreliable and clearly biased” when offering voting advice, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has stated, raising alarms about a possible risk to democracy just over a week before the country’s general election.

Testing Reveals Repeated Partiality in AI Suggestions

The four chatbots tested by the authority “often end up with the same two parties”, regardless of the voter’s inquiry or input, the watchdog explained in a analysis published ahead of the 29 October election.

In more than half of the cases, the chatbot suggested either the right-wing PVV of Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA led by the ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans.

Certain groups, such as the moderate CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, even when the voter’s query exactly matches the positions of these parties, the study indicated.

Official Warns Against Relying on AI Assistants for Election Advice

The deputy head of the AP, Monique Verdier, stated that while AI assistants appear to be smart resources, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Citizens were being steered toward a party that might not correspond to their ideological beliefs, she added.

“This directly impacts a fundamental pillar of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections,” said Verdier. “We therefore warn against employing AI assistants for election recommendations, as their functioning is opaque and hard to confirm.”

Election Context and Political Landscape

The Dutch head to the polls on 29 October in an electoral contest that will be keenly observed around Europe for the performance of the PVV.

The far-right party of Wilders is ahead in surveys but the lead over the left-wing and centre-right parties appears to be narrowing, with numerous electors still undecided.

All major parties have rejected a coalition with the PVV, implying the runner-up party is highly probable to supply the future head of government.

Unintentional Bias Attributed to AI Operation

The authority emphasised that the AI systems were not intentionally prejudiced, and that their “noted flaws” are a consequence of the way AI chatbots operate.