🔗 Share this article Artificial Intelligence Assistants Provide ‘Unreliable and Biased’ Election Guidance, Claims Netherlands Regulator AI assistants are proving to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when providing election recommendations, the Netherlands’ data watchdog has reported, issuing warnings about a possible risk to democratic processes 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 report released ahead of the 29 October election. In more than half of the cases, the AI recommended either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA led by the former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans. Some parties, such as the centre-right CDA, “are almost never mentioned”, even when the user’s input precisely aligns with the positions of these political entities, the study pointed out. Official Warns Against Using AI Chatbots for Voting Guidance The deputy head of the data protection agency, Monique Verdier, stated that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, “for election guidance, they repeatedly fall short”. Citizens were being steered toward a party that might not correspond to their political views, she emphasized. “This directly impacts a cornerstone of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” Verdier stated. “We thus caution against employing AI assistants for voting advice, as their functioning is opaque and difficult to verify.” Election Context 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 Freedom party. The right-leaning group of Geert Wilders is leading the polls but the gap to the left-wing and centre-right parties appears to be narrowing, with many voters still undecided. All major parties have ruled out an alliance with the Freedom party, meaning the party that comes second is highly probable to supply the future head of government. Unintentional Bias 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.