🔗 Share this article AI Chatbots Provide ‘Unreliable and Biased’ Voting Advice, Claims Dutch Watchdog AI chatbots have been shown to be “unreliable and clearly biased” when providing election recommendations, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has stated, raising alarms about a potential threat to democratic processes just over a week before the country’s general election. Testing Reveals Consistent Bias in AI Suggestions The quartet of AI assistants tested by the AP “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. In more than half of the cases, 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 centre-right CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, despite the fact that the voter’s query precisely aligns with the positions of these political entities, the report pointed out. Official Warns Against Relying on AI Assistants for Voting Guidance The deputy head of the data protection agency, 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 ideological beliefs, she added. “This immediately affects 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 Political Landscape 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 Wilders is ahead in surveys but the gap to the left-wing and centre-right parties seems to be closing, with many voters yet to make up their minds. Every significant political faction have rejected a coalition with the PVV, implying the party that comes second is highly probable to supply the future head of government. Inadvertent Prejudice Linked to Chatbot Functioning The AP 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.