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AI chatbots are proving to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when providing election recommendations, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has reported, issuing warnings about a potential threat to democracy just over a week before the country’s general election.

Study Shows Consistent Bias in AI Suggestions

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

In more than half of the cases, the AI recommended either the right-wing PVV of the politician Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA headed by the ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans.

Certain groups, such as the centre-right CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, despite the fact that the user’s input exactly matches the positions of these political entities, the study indicated.

Official Warns Against Relying on AI Assistants for Voting Guidance

The deputy head of the AP, the official 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 political group that did not necessarily align with their political views, she emphasized.

“This directly impacts a cornerstone of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections,” Verdier stated. “We thus caution against employing AI assistants for election recommendations, as their functioning is opaque and hard to confirm.”

Voting Background and Party Dynamics

Netherlands citizens vote on October 29 in an election that will be keenly observed around Europe for the showing of the Freedom party.

The right-leaning group of Geert 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 rejected a coalition with the Freedom party, implying the party that comes second is most likely to provide the next prime minister.

Unintentional Bias Linked to Chatbot Functioning

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