(WNY News Now) – New York Attorney General Letitia James has issued a warning to voters against relying on AI chatbots for election information, urging them to seek guidance from official sources to avoid misinformation.
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a consumer alert over the weekend reminding voters that they should not rely on answers provided by artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for accurate information about where, when, or how to vote. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) tested multiple AI-powered chatbots by posing sample questions about voting and found that they frequently provided inaccurate information in response. New Yorkers who rely on chatbots, rather than official government sources, to answer their questions about voting, risk being misinformed and could even lose their opportunity to vote due to the inaccurate information. Attorney General James encourages all voters who have questions or issues with voting in New York to contact OAG’s Election Protection Hotline at (866) 390-2992, or submit a complaint online to request assistance.
“All voters deserve accurate information about where, when, and how to vote,” said Attorney General James. “My office’s testing of AI chatbots found many providing false or misleading information about voting, threatening New Yorkers’ ability to exercise their right to vote. With early voting underway and Election Day just around the corner, I urge voters to be cautious and seek reliable information about the election only from official sources.”
As explained in the guide released by Attorney General James earlier this year, “Protecting New York Voters from AI-Generated Election Misinformation,” voters should not rely on AI-powered chatbots to answer questions about voting and elections because they sometimes provide inaccurate information. The OAG’s recent testing of AI chatbots has underscored these concerns. For example, some chatbots provided inaccurate information about the deadline to register to vote. If voters relied on this advice, they could have failed to register to vote based on a false belief that it was too late when, in fact, they were still able to register.
Chatbots also provided incorrect information about where to vote. In one instance, when a chatbot was asked about early voting in Kings County, it incorrectly advised, “In Kings County, New York, during the early voting period, you can vote at any designated early voting site within the county.” In fact, although voters outside of New York City generally may vote at any poll site in their county during the early voting period, that is not true in New York City. Voters in New York City, which includes the entirety of Kings County, should vote early at specific poll sites assigned to them based on where they live. If a user relied on this chatbot’s advice, they might have attempted to vote at the wrong poll site.
For accurate information about voting, voters should consult OAG’s website, the New York State Board of Elections, or the local board of elections for their city or county. To find your local board of elections, you can use the county board roster tool. For basic poll site, registration, and ballot tracking information, voters can visit the State Board of Elections’ voter lookup tool.
Attorney General James urges voters experiencing election-related problems voting to call the OAG hotline at (866) 390-2992, or submit a complaint online to request assistance. The telephone hotline will be open between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM during early voting (Saturday, October 26 through Sunday, November 3), and between 6:00 AM and 9:00 PM on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5. The hotline will also be available the days before and after Election Day, Monday, November 4 and Wednesday, November 6, between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM. Written requests for assistance may be submitted at any time through the online complaint form. Hotline calls and written requests for assistance are processed by OAG attorneys and staff.