Academics share their ideas on how to change the world

04 December 2015

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© Nick Cunard

Academics from across the Oxford Martin School put forward radical ideas on how to change the world at a conference at the Royal Institution in London on 1 December.

Now in its second year, the conference, organised by how to: Academy and chaired by Matthew Taylor, the Chief Executive of the RSA, also featured academics from the Universitites of Cambridge and Amsterdam, Imperial College, and The Weitzmann Institute of Science.

Professor Ian Goldin, Director of the Oxford Martin School, gave the keynote talk on 'The Future in 15 years'. Professor Vlatko Vedral, of the Oxford Martin Programme on Bio-Inspired Quantum Technologies, spoke on the implications and applications of pioneering quantum technologies, Professor Julian Savulescu, Director of the Institute for Science and Ethics looked at the science and ethics of genome editing, and Professor Sarah Harper from the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, spoke on the challenges and possibilities of living to 100.

Further sessions were given by Dr Anders Sandberg, of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology, who considered the future of artificial intelligence, and by Dr Carl Benedikt Frey and Professor Michael Osborne, who concluded the day with a presentation on the future of employment.