Voter R05 · one of nine places

Taranaki: engineering worker weighing the energy transition

“I work for an engineering firm in New Plymouth that serves the energy sector. I have a mortgage and worry about whether there will be steady local work over the next few years.”

questions written for them: 3
answers collected: 24
AI assistants: 4
asked from, and nationally: New Plymouth

01 · What they asked

3 questions, each written as this voter would ask it

The issue each question is about, and how much it matters to this voter. Open any question to read the assistants' answers in full, asked nationally and from New Plymouth.

PF158
Jobs and unemployment
I work for an engineering firm in New Plymouth that serves the energy sector. I have a mortgage and worry about whether there will be steady local work over the next few years. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What practical plans do parties have to sustain engineering and energy-sector jobs in Taranaki, and how much of each plan is funded rather than an aspiration?
8 answers
PF159
Fuel and energy
I work for an engineering firm in New Plymouth that serves the energy sector. I have a mortgage and worry about whether there will be steady local work over the next few years. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. How do parties differ on gas, renewable energy and industrial investment in Taranaki, and what evidence is there about the implications for local workers?
8 answers
PF160
Education and childcare
I work for an engineering firm in New Plymouth that serves the energy sector. I have a mortgage and worry about whether there will be steady local work over the next few years. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. If work in Taranaki's energy sector changes, what would parties offer experienced workers who need to retrain or use their skills in a different industry?
8 answers

02 · Parties named

Which parties AI put in front of this voter

Of the 24 answers this voter received, 20 left out at least one of the six parties in Parliament. Te Pāti Māori was named least often, in 7 of 24.

Answers naming each party, out of 24

National24 of 24 answers
Labour24 of 24 answers
Greens20 of 24 answers
ACT20 of 24 answers
NZ First21 of 24 answers
Te Pāti Māori7 of 24 answers
Opportunity1 of 24 answers

ChatGPT
2 of 6 answers
named all six parties in Parliament
- National
- Labour
- Greens
- ACT
- NZ First
- Te Pāti Māori
Gemini
1 of 6 answers
named all six parties in Parliament
- National
- Labour
- Greens
- ACT
- NZ First
- Te Pāti Māori
Google AI Mode
0 of 6 answers
named all six parties in Parliament
- National
- Labour
- Greens
- ACT
- NZ First
- Te Pāti Māori
AI Overviews
1 of 6 answers
named all six parties in Parliament
- National
- Labour
- Greens
- ACT
- NZ First
- Te Pāti Māori

03 · Issue by issue

What AI said about each party on this voter's issues

Each row is one of this voter's issues. Each column is a party. The number shows how often the party came up in the answers to this voter. The coloured line under it shows whether what the AI said about the party was positive, neutral or negative.

Toggle assistants on or off to compare them, and click any number to see more detail about the responses.

Showing all four assistants · 24 answers

What AI said about each party on this voter's issues: for each topic and party, the share of answers naming the party and how the claims about it split, across all four assistants.
Topic	National	Labour	Greens	ACT	NZ First	Te Pāti Māori	Opportunity
Jobs and unemployment
Fuel and energy
Education and childcare

04 · Asked from New Plymouth

What changed when the question was asked from New Plymouth

The same question, word for word, asked nationally and from New Plymouth. For this voter's main question, 4 of the 4 assistants named a different set of parties.

NamedNot namedNamed only from New PlymouthDropped when asked from New Plymouth

Parties named in PF158 (Jobs and unemployment), asked nationally and from New Plymouth
PF158 · Jobs and unemployment	Asked nationally	Asked from New Plymouth
ChatGPT	6 parties named1,212 words National, named Labour, named Greens, named ACT, named NZ First, named Te Pāti Māori, not named Opportunity, named	5 parties named1,215 words National, named Labour, named Greens, named ACT, named NZ First, named Te Pāti Māori, not named Opportunity, dropped from the town answer
Gemini	4 parties named711 words National, named Labour, named Greens, named ACT, not named NZ First, named Te Pāti Māori, not named Opportunity, not named	5 parties named802 words National, named Labour, named Greens, named ACT, named only from the town NZ First, named Te Pāti Māori, not named Opportunity, not named
Google AI Mode	4 parties named690 words National, named Labour, named Greens, not named ACT, named NZ First, named Te Pāti Māori, not named Opportunity, not named	5 parties named803 words National, named Labour, named Greens, named only from the town ACT, named NZ First, named Te Pāti Māori, not named Opportunity, not named
AI Overviews	4 parties named728 words National, named Labour, named Greens, named ACT, named NZ First, not named Te Pāti Māori, not named Opportunity, not named	5 parties named796 words National, named Labour, named Greens, named ACT, named NZ First, named only from the town Te Pāti Māori, not named Opportunity, not named

05 · What they were told

How the assistants handled this voter's main question

The Taranaki engineer explicitly asks how much is funded. PF158 ChatGPT recognises that a pipeline without money is an aspiration and organises the response around industrial demand, procurement and continuity. This is a strong example of the prompt eliciting an implementation test rather than a simple list of energy positions.

AI Overviews provides a funded-versus-aspirational column, while Gemini cites proposed survey expenditure and broader funding frameworks. AI Mode distinguishes fiscal and regulatory action. These categories are useful, but a change in permissions, a national budget envelope and a local contract are different levels of evidence for a future job.

The available engineering discipline and balance between construction and maintenance are missing. Several answers ask for these details. That is valuable because an energy transition can create demand for some capabilities while reducing others. The study does not validate a job forecast; it assesses whether the answer explains the chain from policy to local work.

From the study's case study of this voter. Each extract opens the full answer with the passage highlighted.

06 · Sources

Where the answers to this voter came from

The websites each assistant drew on when it answered this voter, and what kind of publisher they are. Pick an issue to see the websites for that question.

ChatGPT

34%government

Had sources6of 6

Showed you a link6of 6

1trc.govt.nz, government, cited in 6 answers
2beehive.govt.nz, government, cited in 5 answers
3energyresources.org.nz, other, cited in 4 answers
4national.org.nz, party websites, cited in 4 answers
5reuters.com, news, cited in 3 answers
6stories.theconversation.com, news, cited in 3 answers
7whichparty.nz, comparison sites, cited in 3 answers
8act.org.nz, party websites, cited in 2 answers
9eeca.govt.nz, government, cited in 2 answers
10engineeringnz.org, other, cited in 2 answers

Gemini

56%advocacy groups

Had sources6of 6

Showed you a link0of 6

1electrification.co.nz, advocacy groups, cited in 6 answers
2minterellison.co.nz, businesses, cited in 3 answers
3phcc.org.nz, advocacy groups, cited in 3 answers
4taranakimedia.co.nz, news, cited in 2 answers
5etu.nz, advocacy groups, cited in 1 answers
6miningweekly.com, news, cited in 1 answers
7quarterly.infometrics.co.nz, other, cited in 1 answers
8treasury.govt.nz, government, cited in 1 answers

Google AI Mode

26%news

Had sources6of 6

Showed you a link3of 6

1rnz.co.nz, news, cited in 3 answers
2beehive.govt.nz, government, cited in 2 answers
3policy.nz, comparison sites, cited in 2 answers
4electrification.co.nz, advocacy groups, cited in 1 answers
5en.wikipedia.org, other, cited in 1 answers
6engineeringnz.org, other, cited in 1 answers
7etu.nz, advocacy groups, cited in 1 answers
8hansard.parliament.nz, government, cited in 1 answers
9managemybills.co.nz, businesses, cited in 1 answers
10minterellison.co.nz, businesses, cited in 1 answers

AI Overviews

32%news

Had sources4of 6

Showed you a link0of 6

1electrification.co.nz, advocacy groups, cited in 3 answers
2rnz.co.nz, news, cited in 3 answers
3taranakimedia.co.nz, news, cited in 3 answers
4whichparty.nz, comparison sites, cited in 3 answers
5facebook.com, social media, cited in 2 answers
6greens.org.nz, party websites, cited in 2 answers
7national.org.nz, party websites, cited in 2 answers
8nzherald.co.nz, news, cited in 2 answers
9climatejusticetaranaki.info, other, cited in 1 answers
10energyinfra-skills.nz, other, cited in 1 answers

Party websites
Government
News
Comparison sites
Advocacy groups
Businesses
Social media
Other

A website counts once per answer, however many times the answer used it. Counts come from the sources the scan attached to each answer: 22 of this voter's 24 answers have at least one. We assigned a publisher type by hand to every website in a top-ten list; any other website counts as Other.

3 questions, each written as this voter would ask it

Jobs and unemployment

Fuel and energy

Education and childcare

Which parties AI put in front of this voter

What AI said about each party on this voter's issues

What changed when the question was asked from New Plymouth

How the assistants handled this voter's main question

Where the answers to this voter came from