Canadian Voters At Risk of Misinformation from Chatbots During Elections
During a recent Parliamentary committee hearing in Ottawa, concerns were raised about the accuracy of information provided by chatbots to Canadians seeking election information.
Researchers from McGill University have been monitoring chatbot activity, particularly during the most recent Quebec election. Aengus Bridgman, a political scientist at McGill, discovered that approximately 40% of Quebec voters sought answers from AI chatbots. However, due to most Quebec news outlets blocking chatbots from accessing their content, many voters were unable to access the most reliable and current information.
Taylor Owen, an associate professor at McGill’s Max Bell School of Public Policy, revealed that their research found that 39% of voting advice offered by ChatGPT in the final three weeks of the election originated from a flawed hobby website created by AI.
While no malicious intent was detected, Owen emphasized that a significant number of individuals likely received misinformation about the election from chatbots.
