Impacting Underprivileged Communities with STEM-Robotics Innovation: The Alan Turing Institute’s Public Engagement in Wales and Malaysia

The EUREKA Robotics Centre organises several programs to promote the public understanding and sustainable development of STEM disciplines by showcasing cutting-edge technologies in Robotics and Artificial intelligence. In 2022–2023, the EUREKA Robotics Centre partnered with the Alan Turing Institute to run a special series of public engagement roadshows in Wales and Malaysia, aimed at encouraging participation among traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM, specifically women, girls and minority students. Research has found that public engagement roadshow activities have a positive impact on the understanding and acceptance of STEM disciplines among underrepresented groups and directly affect the career aspirations of participants. These results support the validity of public engagement in STEM, which EUREKA will continue through the proposed PIE-GENIUS (Indonesia and UK Sustainable STEM-AI Gender Equality Network) program to guide future AI and robotics research and policies.