Robot enters House of Commons to Show MPs what Young People Care About

As MPs go back to work at Parliament today, v‘s new research has shown that just 10% of young people believe politicians are best able to change the country.  The data collected through Voicebox shows that young people are caring, considerate, articulate and passionate. We hope our interactive robot in the Houses of Commons is an innovative way to make MPs sit up and take notice.

At a time when only 3% of young people have ever contacted their MP, the robot – nicknamed Voicebot -  is a very modern twist on writing a letter to your MP. Until Thursday, young people can visit a website, put in what they care about and the robot will write it out, stroke by stroke, word by word, directly to the politicians.

Voicebot has been collecting comments from 1000s of young people.

The study and robot come at a time when respect among the public for the political classes is at an all time low.  A study published earlier this year by Hansard Society indicates that currently only 24% of 18 to 24 year olds are certain to vote in the next general election – the lowest of all groups by a long way. And, contrary to some images, young people are the least likely of all age groups to be politically active – just 4%.

The full results of the Voicebox are also being fed into even more detailed work with the think tank Demos, looking at young people and their relationship with power and politics. This project, titled An Anatomy of Youth will review: young people’s portrayal in media, their presence in recent policy debates and existing information on young people’s behaviours and their attitudes.

Voicebot is part of v’s proactive research campaign called Voicebox, with over 5,000 people having taken part so far. The project is live and constantly evolving. The more young people that participate the more accurate picture we’ll create of young Britons today. Over the coming months, Voicebox will continue to collect and share data about lifestyles, attitudes and behaviours of young Britons.  In an age when young people are using social media more and more, Voicebox uses new and interactive social media to engage young people. 

Want to find out more about the data we’re collecting? Have a look at the results here.