A University of Brighton-trained biomedical scientist, Bamidele Farinre, has inspired a yearlong project by the United Kingdom's AllParty Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The programme will explore how AI systems can unintentionally produce biased outcomes and how greater diversity in STEM could prevent gendered harms in current and emerging technologies.

The project stemmed directly from Bamidele’s proposal to the APPG’s national call for evidence. Her submission highlighted the urgent need to embed equity, inclusion and diverse perspectives into AI from the earliest design stages.

Bamidele, who moved to the UK at 12 years old, said her time at the University of Brighton, where she completed her Biomedical Science degree, played a foundational role in shaping her scientific thinking and long‑term commitment to equitable technology.

She said: “My time at the University of Brighton laid the foundation for my scientific rigor, but my career in biomedical science revealed the urgent need for equity in the algorithms that increasingly govern our lives. It is a profound full-circle moment to see an idea I submitted evolve into a formal UK parliamentary project.”

As a British‑Nigerian woman in STEM, Bamidele has firsthand experience of the impact that underrepresentation can have, not only on career progression, but on the technologies shaping society. Her advocacy builds on Brighton’s longstanding reputation for championing equity, widening participation and socially responsible innovation.

The parliamentary project, supported by the British Science Association, will bring together policymakers, researchers, technologists and industry leaders. Over the next year, it will gather expert evidence and develop recommendations to Government on integrating gender, race, disability and socio‑economic diversity into AI development, right from early design and coding to policy oversight and risk assessment.

Samantha Niblett MP, Chair of the APPG, said: “Repeated examples of gender‑based harms online, from biased algorithms to AI tools capable of generating sexualised image abuse, are not technical accidents. They show what happens when the right people are not involved in designing and testing these systems. If we want AI to serve the whole of society, our STEM workforce must reflect the diversity of the country.”

For Bamidele, the aim is clear: ensuring that technological progress strengthens equality rather than undermining it.

“By embedding equity from the start, we can build AI that empowers women, girls and underrepresented communities across the UK and beyond,” she said.

The initiative marks a powerful example of how local talent from the University of Brighton is contributing to national policy, global scientific conversations and the future of equitable innovation.