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AI chatbots 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 potential threat to democracy just over a week before national elections.

Testing Reveals Repeated Partiality in Chatbot Recommendations

The quartet of AI assistants tested by the AP “frequently recommend identical two parties”, irrespective of the user’s question or command, the watchdog noted in a analysis released ahead of the late October vote.

For over 50% of instances, the AI recommended either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of the politician Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA led by the former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.

Certain groups, such as the centre-right CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, even when the voter’s query exactly matches the stances of these political entities, the study indicated.

Official Warns Against Using AI Chatbots for Voting Guidance

The deputy head of the data protection agency, Monique Verdier, commented that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, “for election guidance, they repeatedly fall short”. Voters were being pushed toward a political group that might not correspond to their ideological beliefs, she added.

“This immediately affects a cornerstone of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” said Verdier. “We thus caution against employing AI assistants 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 performance of the PVV.

The far-right party of Geert Wilders is leading the polls but the lead over 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 ruled out an alliance with the Freedom party, implying the runner-up party is highly probable to supply the future head of government.

Inadvertent Prejudice Linked to Chatbot Functioning

The AP emphasised that the AI systems were not intentionally prejudiced, and that their “identified shortcomings” are a consequence of the way AI chatbots operate.