If Oscar Wilde had been concerned with this paper I think he might well have said: “To be asked to attempt an essay on the development of an engineering specialisation over the next hundred years may be regarded as a misfortune. To attempt to predict the form that control of a complex creative process will take looks like carelessness”. Having undertaken the task, perhaps somewhat carelessly, my first attempts to assemble some thoughts led to the conclusion that I was not only careless but also foolish and as such unqualified to present any views I might have. This paper is the result of a determination to break out of this unproductive frame of mind and to set down my personal views for what they are worth. I can only hope the paper has not turned out to be “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People”.