AI tools struggle with election questions, raising voter confusion concerns
Despite investments in AI improvements, accuracy issues remain, and new European legal requirements mandate safeguards against misinformation.
As the ‘year of global elections’ reaches its midpoint, AI chatbots and voice assistants are still struggling with basic election questions, risking voter confusion. The Washington Post found that Amazon’s Alexa often failed to correctly identify Joe Biden as the 2020 US presidential election winner, sometimes providing irrelevant or incorrect information. Similarly, Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Gemini refused to answer such questions, redirecting users to search engines instead.
Tech companies are increasingly investing in AI to provide definitive answers rather than lists of websites. This feature is particularly important as false claims about the 2020 election being stolen persist, even after multiple investigations found no fraud. Trump faced federal charges for attempting to overturn Biden’s victory, who won decisively with over 51% of the popular vote.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Apple’s Siri, however, correctly answered election questions. Seven months ago, Amazon claimed to have fixed Alexa’s inaccuracies, and recent tests showed Alexa correctly stating Biden won the 2020 election. Nonetheless, inconsistencies were spotted last week. Microsoft and Google, in return, said they avoid answering election-related questions to reduce risks and prevent misinformation,, a policy also applied in Europe due to a new law requiring safeguards against misinformation.
Why does it matter?
Tech companies are increasingly tasked with distinguishing fact from fiction as it develops AI-enabled assistants. Recently, Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI to enhance Siri with generative AI capabilities. Concurrently, Amazon is set to launch a new AI version of Alexa as a subscription service in September, although it remains unclear how it will handle election queries. An early prototype struggled with accuracy, and internal doubts about its readiness persist. The new AI assistants from Amazon and Apple aim to merge traditional voice commands with conversational capabilities, but experts warn this integration may pose new challenges.
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The GIP Digital Watch Observatory team, consisting of over 30 digital policy experts from around the world, excels in the fields of research and analysis on digital policy issues. The team is backed by the creative prowess of Creative Lab Diplo and the technical expertise of the Diplo tech team.
