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AI chatbots have been shown to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when offering voting advice, the Netherlands’ data watchdog has reported, raising alarms about a potential threat to democracy just over a week before the country’s general election.

Testing Reveals Repeated Partiality in AI Suggestions

The four chatbots tested by the authority “frequently recommend identical two parties”, irrespective of the user’s question or command, the watchdog noted in a report published ahead of the late October vote.

In more than half of the cases, the chatbot suggested either the far-right Freedom party (PVV) of 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”, despite the fact that the user’s input precisely aligns with the positions of these political entities, the study indicated.

Official Warns Against Using AI Chatbots for Election Advice

The deputy head of the data protection agency, the official Monique Verdier, stated that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Voters were being pushed toward a party that might not correspond to their ideological beliefs, she emphasized.

“This immediately affects a cornerstone of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections,” Verdier stated. “We thus caution against employing AI assistants for election recommendations, as their operation is unclear and difficult to verify.”

Voting Background and Party Dynamics

The Dutch head to the polls on 29 October in an election that will be closely watched across the continent for the showing of the PVV.

The far-right party of Geert Wilders is ahead in surveys but the lead over the GroenLinks-PvdA and CDA appears to be narrowing, with many voters still undecided.

Every significant political faction have ruled out an alliance with the PVV, implying the runner-up party is most likely to supply the future head of government.

Inadvertent Prejudice Linked to Chatbot Functioning

The authority stressed that the bots were not deliberately biased, and that their “noted flaws” are a consequence of the manner in which AI assistants function.