Dutch Watchdog Warns Against AI Chatbots' Biased Voting Advice Ahead of National Elections

AI chatbots give 'unreliable and biased' advice to voters, says Dutch watchdog

Data protection authority warns against using AI as a voting aid tool days before national elections in the Netherlands AI chatbots are "unreliable and clearly biased" when offering voting advice, the Dutch data protection authority (AP) has said, warning of a threat to democracy eight days before national elections. The four chatbots tested by the AP "often end up with the same two parties, regardless of the user's question or command", the authority said in a report ahead of the 29 October election. 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 former European Commission vice-president 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 one of these parties," the report said. The deputy head of the AP, Monique Verdier, said that while chatbots may seem like clever tools, "as a voting aid, they consistently fail". Voters are being pushed towards a party that does not necessarily align with their political views, she added. "This directly impacts a cornerstone of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections," said Verdier. "We therefore warn against using AI chatbots for voting advice, as their operation is unclear and difficult to verify." The Dutch head to the polls on 29 October in an election that will be closely watched around Europe for the performance 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 many Dutch yet to make up their minds. All major parties have ruled out an alliance with the PVV, meaning the party that comes second is most likely to provide the next prime minister. The AP emphasised the bots were not deliberately biased, their "identified shortcomings are a consequence of the way AI chatbots operate".

Dutch Watchdog Warns Voters Against Using AI Chatbots Ahead of Election

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -The Dutch data regulator on Tuesday warned voters against using AI chatbots ahead of the national election, saying the platforms give unreliable advice and push them towards two major parties on opposite ends of the political spectrum. While 15 different parties hold seats in the 150-member Dutch parliament at present, chatbots told voters in 56% of cases to choose between the far-right Freedom Party or the Labour-Green Left coalition. The parties are on track to take 20% and 16% of the vote on October 29, respectively, according to opinion polls. "Chatbots may seem like clever tools, but as a voting aid, they consistently fail," the Dutch data protection watchdog's vice-chair Monique Verdier said in a statement, describing their operation as "unclear and difficult to verify". The agency said it had tested four major chatbots, without disclosing which ones, and found that even when fed the campaign platform of a smaller party, the chatbots still advised voting for one of the two major parties in some of the cases. The election is taking place months after the Freedom Party's exit triggered the collapse of the right-wing coalition, which did not include the Labour or Green parties, and is seen as a contest between either a new all-conservative government or a more centrist or centre-right coalition. The EU member is led by a minority caretaker government. The watchdog did not say how many Dutch voters it thinks are using chatbots for voting advice but said there was a "growing number". Over 13 million people are eligible to vote in the election. (Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Toby Sterling; Editing by Muvija M)