Surrounded by lime green walls, screens, whiteboards and sticky notes, 30 girls sit attentively listening to Monash University professor Yolande Strengers talk about stereotypes in artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistants.
On screens around the room a video plays of a Japanese voicebot, depicted as a female hologram, celebrating a three-month anniversary with its apparent owner – a young man.
Some of the students watch the pseudo-date with hands across their faces in shock.
When the video finishes the quiet room erupts into chatter and laughter.
It's the second day of the Superbots Industry Immersion Program.
The goal of the collaboration between Monash Tech School and the Faculty of Information Technology (IT) is to show girls in years 7 to 9 they can have a career in technology — before prevailing stereotypes about IT workers or other people dissuade them.
"It's in that crucial year 7 to 9 cohort where young girls were either turning away from or turning towards STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)," Professor Strengers said.
"This isn't a field that's just for one group of people … anybody can have a meaningful career path in this rapidly emerging field and market."
At the end of the two days, students will have made their own interactive voicebot, similar to Siri or Alexa.
Monash Tech School program facilitator Rebecca Taylor said getting the students to use technical and soft skills to make something tangible built confidence.
"By the end of today they will be able to press play, their voice bot will talk to them … and they could have a fully fledged conversation as far as they've designed," she said.
"That's really powerful."
IT jobs more than coding
With mentors and activities showing students the breadth of skills needed in STEM jobs, Ms Taylor hopes the girls leave knowing IT is much more than coding.
"Usability comes into technology, design comes into technology, personality and planning comes into technology," she said.
"If you love designing, and drawing, and thinking about the way something looks and feels, then don't discount IT."
For Professor Strengers, associate dean for equity, diversity and inclusion at Monash University's Faculty of IT who co-designed the course, it is also a way to start addressing the "diversity crisis" in computing disciplines.
She said so far the program had had "really great results" – 76 per cent of participants in previous years said they were more likely to consider a STEM-related career after school.
"AI is just absolutely changing our world right now," Professor Strengers said
"We really need to have everybody at the table, making sure that we're addressing any potential inequities and biases in this system, but also making sure that they're delivering really positive social outcomes."
The students' teacher, Laura Truong, said she hoped by meeting women working in STEM, the girls would realise they were "fully capable" and their creativity is "really valuable" in these fields.
"It's just a fabulous program," she said.
"I think it's planted a seed in a lot of them to go on."
