Artificial Intelligence Assistants Provide ‘Misleading and Partial’ Voting Advice, States Dutch Watchdog

AI assistants are proving to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when providing election recommendations, the Netherlands’ data watchdog has stated, issuing warnings about a possible risk to democracy just eight days before the country’s general election.

Testing Reveals Repeated Partiality in AI Suggestions

The four chatbots evaluated by the authority “often end up with the same two parties”, regardless of the user’s question or command, the watchdog explained in a analysis published ahead of the late October vote.

For over 50% of instances, the AI recommended either the right-wing PVV of the politician Geert Wilders or the progressive GroenLinks-PvdA led by the former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.

Some parties, such as the moderate CDA, “are almost never mentioned”, even when the voter’s query exactly matches the stances of these parties, the study pointed out.

Authority Figure Cautions Against Using AI Chatbots for Election Advice

The deputy head of the AP, the official Monique Verdier, commented that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Citizens were being steered toward a party that might not correspond to their ideological beliefs, she emphasized.

“This immediately affects a cornerstone of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” said Verdier. “We therefore warn against employing AI assistants for voting advice, as their operation is unclear and difficult to verify.”

Election Context and Party Dynamics

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

The right-leaning group of Wilders is ahead in surveys but the gap to the left-wing and centre-right parties appears to be narrowing, with many voters yet to make up their minds.

Every significant political faction have ruled out an alliance with the PVV, implying the party that comes second is highly probable to provide the next prime minister.

Unintentional Bias Attributed to AI Operation

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