Research by broadcaster NOS reveals that approximately 25% of questions posed by MPs in the Dutch parliament were composed with the assistance of AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude.
NOS examined 28,000 parliamentary questions using the AI detection software Pangram, discovering that 26% exhibited characteristics typical of AI-generated text.
The frequency of AI-assisted questions peaked at over 30% just before the summer break, before declining to nearly 17% in July, matching levels from the previous year.
While some MPs incorporated just a sentence or two generated by AI, others relied on these tools to draft entire sequences of questions.
Last week, Prime Minister Rob Jetten faced criticism after it was revealed that around 30% of his social media content was AI-generated.
Several posts included personal reflections on sensitive matters, such as the mistreatment of Moluccan war veterans in the 1950s, a topic for which Jetten recently issued a government apology.
Jetten defended the use, noting that “like three-quarters of Dutch people I sometimes use AI to make things better”.
Some experts argue that employing AI to draft questions is not inherently problematic. AI developer Maarten Sukel told NOS, “If MPs weren’t using it at all I would see that as a bad thing.”
However, he cautioned against using AI as a substitute for thorough research. “If you’re working on a dossier you’re unfamiliar with and AI helps generate parliamentary questions, that’s problematic.”
“Faster and smarter”
Daniël van den Berg, an MP from the right-wing opposition party JA21, stated: “It would be unfortunate for me to spend hours sifting through minutes and documents tracking down media references. AI allows me to work more quickly and intelligently.”
In contrast, Marleen Stikker, founder of De Digitale Stad—one of the Netherlands’ earliest online communities—warned that AI use in parliament erodes Dutch democracy.
“We are handing over our democratic processes to algorithms from American AI companies, which are far from neutral and biased. That’s simply unacceptable, isn’t it?”
Original article: www.dutchnews.nl
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