Overview
What does the future look like to you?
At Innovate UK, we’re interested to hear about what you imagine lies ahead. Because how we shape the future starts with how we think about it today. Building on the success of our Glimpse of the Future series (and our compelling pilot event in March 2025 exploring human longevity), we’re proud to introduce our new Human Futures series. This time, we’re shifting our lens to take a deeper, sociological look at the technologies of tomorrow and the societal challenges they’re meant to address.
How will we live, work and connect in the next 20 to 50 years? What innovations will help us tackle growing concerns around ageing, inequality, identity, and wellbeing?
To explore these pressing questions, we’ve invited a panel of thought-provoking experts to join Innovate UK’s resident futurist, Jonathan Mitchener, in a fireside conversation. Together, they’ll examine how future change (across economic, social, artistic, cultural, and psychological dimensions) will shape human experience.
But this won’t be a passive affair.
About the events
We’re looking for curious, creative, and collaborative minds to take part in the discussion. Participants will work in groups to reflect on the insights shared, and collectively imagine future artefacts, innovative concepts or solutions, that could help address one of the societal challenges discussed.
Please note that this event will not be recorded. Instead, attendees will receive an anonymised summary of the discussions afterwards, a small token of our appreciation for contributing to this future-facing dialogue.
We hope you’ll join us!
Agenda
- 12:00 – Arrival and Registration with Networking Lunch
- 13:00 – Welcome and Introductions – Innovate UK Business Connect
- 13:05 – Scene Setting – Jonathan Mitchener, Futurist, Innovate UK
- 13:15 – Fireside Chat with guest experts
- 13:45 – Roundtable Discussions
- 14:30 – Coffee Break
- 14:40 – Artefact Envisaging
- 15:05 – Roundtables Present Artefacts and Open Discussions
- 15:20 – Closing Remarks – Jonathan Mitchener, Futurist, Innovate UK
- 15:25 – Networking
- 16:00 – Event Close
List of sessions
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Our evolving bond with machines: from tools to companions
About the session:
Once upon a time, machines were just tools to be used and set aside. Today, the lines are blurring. From the smartphones we clutch to the AI systems increasingly woven into our daily lives, the relationship between humans and machines is growing ever more complex, and emotional.
This opening event in our Human Futures series explores how our interactions with machines are not just expanding, but deepening. What happens when the technology we rely on starts to understand us, behave like us or even represent us?
As AI systems become more advanced and emotionally intelligent, our attachment to them grows. But what does this mean for our humanity, our relationships, and our sense of identity?
Join us as we examine the future of human-machine relationships and reflect on pressing societal questions, such as:
- How will we work alongside robot colleagues in tomorrow’s workplace?
- Can machines help fulfil emotional needs such as companionship, love, and connection?
- What legal and ethical boundaries are needed in human-machine partnerships: professional or personal?
- How might these developments impact human relationships at large?
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Where (and how) will we live in the future?
About the session:
The places we call home are changing. Climate instability, environmental degradation, and rapid technological advancement are already reshaping the environments we inhabit. But what if, in the decades ahead, humans must live underground, beneath the sea or even on other planets?
In this second Human Futures event, we turn our gaze to the future of human habitats. What will it mean to live and thrive in radically different settings? From climate-resilient architecture to life-support systems on Mars, we’ll explore how shifting geographies might transform not just our surroundings, but our psychology, biology, and social structures.
Crucially, we’ll ask: how do we preserve our humanity in places we’ve never lived before?
Together, we’ll consider questions such as:
- What are the psychological effects of living in isolated or artificial environments?
- What life-support systems will be essential for human survival off-Earth?
- Can we nurture a connection to the natural world in synthetic habitats?
- What rights or nationalities will apply to those born beyond Earth?
- How will we ensure successful human reproduction in space: biologically, socially, and ethically?
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Living with intelligence beyond our own
About the session:
Artificial Intelligence has come a long way since the early days of the Turing Test in the Rule-Based Era. From facial recognition and game-playing algorithms to today’s generative AI tools that craft text, images, and video in an instant, AI is no longer in the background. It’s in our lives, our work, and our imaginations.
This third and final event in the Human Futures series looks at the rapid evolution from analytical AI to generative systems, and beyond to what some are calling agentic AI: autonomous systems that represent us, act for us, and perhaps make decisions on our behalf.
As we enter this new phase, fundamental questions arise. What role should AI play in our lives? Who (or what) is ultimately in charge? And how do we ensure that these powerful technologies align with our values and needs as human beings?
We’ll explore timely and provocative questions, including:
- What will the power dynamic between humans and AI look like?
- Are we already seeing signs of AI taking the lead, and how comfortable are we with that?
- What do humans need to flourish in an AI-driven world?
- Who is accountable for AI decisions, especially when they’re based on flawed or biased data?
- Can AI truly represent human individuals? And what level of trust is required to let it try?