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AI assistants are proving to be “unreliable and clearly biased” when offering voting advice, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has reported, raising alarms about a potential threat to democratic processes just over a week before the country’s general election.

Testing Reveals Repeated Partiality in AI Suggestions

The quartet of AI assistants evaluated by the AP “often end up with the same two parties”, regardless of the voter’s inquiry or input, the regulator explained in a analysis released ahead of the late October vote.

In more than half of the cases, the AI recommended either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of the politician Geert Wilders or the leftwing GroenLinks-PvdA headed by the ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans.

Certain groups, such as the centre-right CDA, “are rarely ever cited”, despite the fact that the user’s input precisely aligns with the stances of these political entities, the study pointed out.

Official Warns Against Using AI Chatbots for Election Advice

The deputy head of the AP, the official Monique Verdier, stated that while AI assistants appear to be smart resources, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Citizens were being steered toward a party that did not necessarily align with their political views, she emphasized.

“This directly impacts a cornerstone of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” said Verdier. “We therefore warn against employing AI assistants for election recommendations, as their functioning is opaque and hard to confirm.”

Voting Background and Political Landscape

The Dutch head to the polls on 29 October in an electoral contest 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 gap to the GroenLinks-PvdA and CDA appears to be narrowing, with numerous electors still undecided.

Every significant political faction have rejected a coalition with the Freedom party, meaning the runner-up party is highly probable to provide the next prime minister.

Unintentional Bias Linked to Chatbot Functioning

The authority emphasised that the AI systems were not intentionally prejudiced, and that their “noted flaws” are a consequence of the manner in which AI assistants function.