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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.

Study Shows Consistent Bias in Chatbot Recommendations

The quartet of AI assistants evaluated by the authority “often end up with the same two parties”, regardless of the voter’s inquiry or input, the watchdog noted in a analysis released 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 leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA headed by the former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.

Some parties, 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 indicated.

Official Warns Against Using AI Chatbots for Election Advice

The vice-chair of the AP, the official Monique Verdier, commented that while AI assistants appear to be smart resources, “for election guidance, they repeatedly fall short”. Voters were being pushed toward a political group that might not correspond to their political views, she added.

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

Voting Background and Party Dynamics

The Dutch head to the polls on 29 October in an electoral contest that will be keenly observed around Europe for the showing of the PVV.

The right-leaning group of Geert Wilders is ahead in surveys but the lead over the left-wing and centre-right parties appears to be narrowing, with many voters still undecided.

All major parties have rejected a coalition with the Freedom party, meaning 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 “noted flaws” are a result of the manner in which AI assistants function.