🔗 Share this article Artificial Intelligence Assistants Provide ‘Misleading and Partial’ Election Guidance, Claims Netherlands Regulator AI chatbots have been shown to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when providing election recommendations, the Netherlands’ data watchdog 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 Chatbot Recommendations The four chatbots tested by the authority “frequently recommend identical two parties”, regardless of the user’s question or command, the watchdog noted in a analysis published ahead of the late October vote. For over 50% of instances, the chatbot suggested either the right-wing PVV of the politician Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA headed by the ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans. Some parties, such as the moderate CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, even when the voter’s query exactly matches the positions of these parties, the report pointed out. Official Warns Against Using AI Chatbots for Election Advice The vice-chair of the data protection agency, Monique Verdier, stated that while AI assistants appear to be smart resources, “for election guidance, they repeatedly fall short”. Voters were being pushed toward a party that might not correspond to their ideological beliefs, she emphasized. “This directly impacts a cornerstone of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections,” Verdier stated. “We therefore warn against using AI chatbots for voting advice, as their functioning is opaque and hard to confirm.” Election Context and Party Dynamics Netherlands citizens vote on 29 October in an election that will be closely watched around Europe for the showing of the PVV. The far-right party of Wilders is leading the polls but the lead over the left-wing and centre-right parties appears to be narrowing, with many voters still undecided. Every significant political faction have ruled out an alliance with the PVV, implying the party that comes second is most likely to provide the next prime minister. Unintentional Bias Linked to AI Operation The authority stressed that the bots were not deliberately biased, and that their “noted flaws” are a result of the manner in which AI assistants function.