Who Would Chatbots Vote For? Political Preferences of ChatGPT and Gemini in the 2024 European Union Elections

TL;DR

This study investigates the political biases of ChatGPT and Gemini AI chatbots during the 2024 EU elections, revealing biases towards left and centrist parties in ChatGPT and limited responses from Gemini.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of political biases in two major AI chatbots during a real-world election context, highlighting transparency issues.

Findings

ChatGPT favors left-wing and centrist parties

Gemini often refused to answer political questions

Biases are influenced by attitudes toward European integration

Abstract

This study examines the political bias of chatbots powered by large language models, namely ChatGPT and Gemini, in the context of the 2024 European Parliament elections. The research focused on the evaluation of political parties represented in the European Parliament across 27 EU Member States by these generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The methodology involved daily data collection through standardized prompts on both platforms. The results revealed a stark contrast: while Gemini mostly refused to answer political questions, ChatGPT provided consistent ratings. The analysis showed a significant bias in ChatGPT in favor of left-wing and centrist parties, with the highest ratings for the Greens/European Free Alliance. In contrast, right-wing parties, particularly the Identity and Democracy group, received the lowest ratings. The study identified key factors influencing the ratings, including attitudes toward European integration and perceptions of democratic values. The findings highlight the need for a critical approach to information provided by generative AI systems in a political context and call for more transparency and regulation in this area.