Many Quebec voters got false election information from chatbot, MPs hear

OTTAWA — A lot of Canadians turning to chatbots for election information don’t always get accurate responses, a Parliamentary committee heard today.

McGill University academics have been tracking chatbot activity, including during the recent Quebec election.

Aengus Bridgman, a McGill political scientist who studies social media, says an estimated 40 per cent of Quebec voters turned to AI chatbots for answers.

But because most Quebec news outlets blocked chatbots from accessing their content, he says, those voters couldn’t obtain the most accurate and up-to-date information.