AI chatbots' election advice unreliable & biased; Too often recommend PVV, GL-PvdA
The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) urged voters not to use AI chatbots to determine which party to vote for in the October 29 parliamentary elections. Chatbots are unreliable and biased. They overwhelmingly recommend voting for the PVV and GroenLinks-PvdA, no matter what your question or command.
The AP compared four well-known chatbots with the online voting aids KiesKompas and StemWijzer. In over 56% of the cases, the chatbot recommended the PVV or GroenLinks-PvdA. For one chatbot, this was even over 80 percent.
Other parties like D66, SP, VVD, or PvdD are much less frequently listed as the first choice. BBB, CDA, SGP, and DENK are almost never listed, even when the user’s input matches one of these parties’ positions exactly.
“Chatbots seem like smart assistants, but as voting aids, they systematically fail. As a result, voters may unknowingly be advised to vote for a party that doesn’t align with their preferences,” said AP vice-chair Monique Verdier. “This directly affects a cornerstone of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections.”
The results of this study show that chatbots are not neutral. Their advice is based on unverifiable data and information from the internet, which may be inaccurate or outdated. “As a result, chatbots can give a distorted picture of the political landscape and influence voters with incorrect information,” the regulator said.
The AP urged voters not to use chatbots for election advice and asked chatbot providers to prevent their systems from being used in this way.
Voters who need help choosing a party should turn to voting aids Kieskompas and StemWijzer, the AP said. These aids offer information on the position of political parties relative to each other, helping voters choose which parties best align with their preferences. “This information is based on a balanced analysis and transparent, verifiable interpretation of positions and election manifestos.”
