🔗 Share this article Artificial Intelligence Assistants Deliver ‘Misleading and Partial’ Election Guidance, Claims Dutch Watchdog AI chatbots are proving to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when providing election recommendations, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has reported, raising alarms about a potential threat to democratic processes just eight days before the country’s general election. Testing Reveals Repeated Partiality in AI Suggestions The quartet of AI assistants evaluated by the authority “often end up with the same two parties”, regardless of the user’s question or command, the regulator explained in a analysis published ahead of the late October vote. In more than half of the cases, the chatbot suggested either the right-wing PVV of the politician Geert Wilders or the progressive GroenLinks-PvdA led by the ex-EU commissioner Frans Timmermans. Some parties, such as the centre-right CDA, “are almost never mentioned”, even when the user’s input exactly matches the positions of these parties, the study indicated. Official Warns Against Relying on AI Assistants for Voting Guidance The vice-chair of the AP, Monique Verdier, stated that while AI assistants appear to be smart resources, “for election guidance, they repeatedly fall short”. Citizens were being steered toward a party that did not necessarily align with their political views, she added. “This directly impacts a fundamental pillar of democracy: the honesty of open and just votes,” Verdier stated. “We thus caution against using AI chatbots for election recommendations, as their operation is unclear and difficult to verify.” Voting Background and Party Dynamics The Dutch head to the polls on October 29 in an election that will be closely watched around Europe for the performance of the Freedom party. The far-right party of Wilders is ahead in surveys but the gap to the GroenLinks-PvdA and CDA seems to be closing, with many voters still undecided. All major parties have rejected a coalition with the Freedom party, meaning the runner-up party is most likely to supply the future head of government. Inadvertent Prejudice Linked to AI Operation The authority emphasised that the AI systems were not intentionally prejudiced, and that their “identified shortcomings” are a consequence of the way AI chatbots operate.