🔗 Share this article Artificial Intelligence Assistants Provide ‘Misleading and Partial’ Election Guidance, Claims Netherlands Regulator AI assistants have been shown to be “unreliable and clearly biased” when offering voting advice, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has reported, 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 evaluated 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 chatbot suggested either the right-wing PVV of Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA headed by the ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans. Certain groups, such as the moderate CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, even when the voter’s query exactly matches the stances of these parties, the report pointed out. Official Warns Against Relying on AI Assistants for Election Advice The deputy head of the data protection agency, Monique Verdier, commented that while AI assistants appear to be smart resources, “for election guidance, they repeatedly fall short”. Citizens were being steered toward a political group that might not correspond to their ideological beliefs, she added. “This directly impacts 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 operation is unclear and hard to confirm.” Voting Background and Party Dynamics Netherlands citizens vote 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 leading the polls but the gap to the GroenLinks-PvdA and CDA appears to be narrowing, with many voters still undecided. Every significant political faction have rejected a coalition with the Freedom party, meaning the runner-up party is highly probable to supply the future head of government. Inadvertent Prejudice Attributed to AI Operation 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.