Profiles

The Nottingham University Business School Associate Professor looks at a wide range of trends in the world from which he works out scenarios that could arise in the future.

He predicts that in the years to come we will have to learn to cope without oil, are likely to be hit by a worldwide viral pandemic and sees a world where robots have rights. But he qualifies this by saying:

"Being a futurist isn't about predicting exactly what will happen. It's about saying 'these are options' and 'which one do we want to happen'."

The research carried out by Dr Barnatt and his colleagues at the university feeds into education, the media and major institutions.

Oil crash, pandemics and robot rights

The Associate Professor of Computing and Organisations predicts that in the next five to ten years we'll hit a point where, due to a shortage, oil prices will rocket.

"Oil is used for virtually everything - clothing, plastics, roads... a world with less oil will be a very different place."

He sees a society where we eat locally grown food, foreign holidays are just for the rich and we are no longer a consumer society.

The most serious threat to the UK is a pandemic such as Bird Flu. Dr Barnatt says we know with reasonable certainty that there will be one soon.

"[It] will spread around the world very quickly. A lot of people will catch it and a lot of people will die... we should be talking about this a little more."

Dr Barnatt also sees a future where computer chips are made out of synthetic DNA, which will present us with moral and ethical decisions.

Coming soon... Bird Flu?

"If you've got a computer where it's got an organic chip, where it has been grown can you turn these things off? Do they have rights?

"The South Korean government is already drafting laws to give rights to artificial intelligence and robots on the basis that within 20 years there will be sentient beings in South Korea that aren't human but technological."

The future's not so bright

Dr Barnatt believes people will look back on the last 50 years of the 20th Century as a golden age.

"I think that the message from a lot of this stuff is live for today, appreciate what we've got. The world is in a very difficult state economically but it could be in an even more difficult state as we go ahead.

You can hear more from Sarah Julian, weekends 06:00 to 09:00 on BBC Radio Nottingham (95.5 & 103.8FM, DAB and online).