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AI assistants are proving to be “unreliable and clearly biased” when providing election recommendations, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has reported, issuing warnings about a possible risk to democracy just eight days before the country’s general election.

Testing Reveals Consistent Bias in Chatbot Recommendations

The quartet of AI assistants 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 report published ahead of the late October vote.

For over 50% of instances, the AI recommended either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA headed 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 user’s input precisely aligns with the stances of these parties, the study pointed out.

Authority Figure Cautions Against Relying on AI Assistants for Voting Guidance

The deputy head of the data protection agency, 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 did not necessarily align with their political views, she added.

“This immediately affects a cornerstone of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections,” said Verdier. “We thus caution against using AI chatbots for election recommendations, as their functioning is opaque and hard to confirm.”

Voting Background and Political Landscape

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

The right-leaning group of Wilders is leading the polls but the gap to the left-wing and centre-right parties seems to be closing, with numerous electors still undecided.

Every significant political faction have ruled out an alliance with the PVV, meaning 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 consequence of the way AI chatbots operate.