The 1984 Mensa Symposium opened with chairman Sir Clive Sinclair's vision of the 21st century. Highly intelligent robots will become our doctors, teachers and even our companions, he predicts. By 2020 mental toil will be the task of a computer. Sinclair insists that he is not trying to replicate the human brain through the computers, but rather to create 'thinking machines', sharing a large pool of data ensuring consistent, unbiased information. The metacomputer will become a friend and servant to the family, never forgetting a birthday, and will even have its own unique personality.

Sinclair does not believe people should be intimidated by the fast-developing technology. One day computers will provide wisdom and a place to turn to when having a problem - a wonderful stress reliever. Miranda Hambro, the youngest Mensa member at the symposium is more cautious about the role of computers in the future, saying she would not want a computer to take over the world.

The reporter was Owen Spencer-Thomas for this video, made to be shown in a news story on Anglia Television's early evening news / magazine programme About Anglia.

Founded in 1946, Mensa is an organisation limiting its membership to people of high intelligence, generally reflecting those scoring in the top two percent of the population in a standardised IQ test. Sir Clive Sinclair was a pioneer in the 1970s and 1980s computing industry, developing consumer electronics, including the Sinclair Executive, the world's first slimline electronic pocket calculator in 1972. His continuing work was a key part of the cluster of high-tech businesses in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.