3D printing, rapid prototyping, offshore outsourcing, automation, evolutionary design software, expert systems, voice processing and synthesis... technologies, network economies and geopolitical shifts are currently making mincemeat out of many careers and jobs that have lasted for centuries. What will we be doing to earn a living in 2050; what will seem as archaic as a thatcher or fletcher does today? And what will fill the days (and pockets and bellies) of the unemployed?

Chair: Paul Graham Raven

Panellists include:

• Soichiro Tsuda is Leverhulme Research Fellow at University of the West of England and Research Fellow at the University of Southampton. He works with slime mould robots and many other interesting things.
• Prof. James Woudhuysen is co-author of Energise! A future of energy innovation, and of BIG POTATOES: The London Manifesto for Innovation. He is also Professor of Forecasting and Innovation at De Montfort University, Leicester.
• Sharmini Brookes writes a blog on the nature of work called Working Matters and is Session Convenor at Institute of Ideas. Her work in the public sector and as an active trade unionist places her at the heart of current discussions about work today.
• Adrian Tchaikovsky is the acclaimed author of the Shadows of the Apt fantasy series. Book four, Salute the Dark, is out now.