🔗 Share this article Artificial Intelligence Assistants Deliver ‘Misleading and Partial’ Voting Advice, States Netherlands Regulator AI assistants 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 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 AP “often end up with the same two parties”, regardless of the user’s question or command, the watchdog noted in a analysis released ahead of the 29 October election. In more than half of the cases, the chatbot suggested either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of the politician Geert Wilders or the progressive GroenLinks-PvdA led by the ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans. Some parties, such as the moderate CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, despite the fact that the voter’s query precisely aligns with the stances of these parties, the report pointed out. Authority Figure Cautions Against Using AI Chatbots for Voting Guidance The vice-chair of the data protection agency, Monique Verdier, stated 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 ideological beliefs, she added. “This directly impacts a cornerstone of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections,” Verdier stated. “We thus caution against using AI chatbots for election recommendations, as their operation is unclear and difficult to verify.” Election Context and Party Dynamics The Dutch head to the polls 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 Geert Wilders is leading the polls 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 highly probable to provide the next prime minister. Inadvertent Prejudice Linked to Chatbot Functioning The authority stressed that the AI systems were not intentionally prejudiced, and that their “noted flaws” are a consequence of the manner in which AI assistants function.