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AI assistants have been shown to be “inaccurate and evidently prejudiced” when offering voting advice, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has stated, raising alarms about a potential threat to democratic processes just over a week before the country’s general election.

Study Shows Repeated Partiality in AI Suggestions

The four chatbots evaluated by the authority “frequently recommend identical two parties”, regardless of the user’s question or command, the regulator noted in a report released 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 leftwing 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 parties, the report pointed out.

Official Warns Against Relying on AI Assistants for Voting Guidance

The vice-chair of the data protection agency, the official Monique Verdier, stated that while AI assistants appear to be smart resources, “as a voting aid, they consistently fail”. Voters were being pushed toward a political group that did not necessarily align with their ideological beliefs, she emphasized.

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

Election Context and Party Dynamics

Netherlands citizens vote on October 29 in an election that will be keenly observed around Europe for the performance of the PVV.

The far-right party of Geert Wilders is leading the polls but the gap to the GroenLinks-PvdA and CDA seems to be closing, with many voters still undecided.

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

Inadvertent Prejudice Linked to AI Operation

The authority stressed that the bots were not deliberately biased, and that their “identified shortcomings” are a consequence of the way AI chatbots operate.