It’s a funny thing weather forecasting. The weather is what is is, or will be, and yet we sailors plan around what a computer thinks it may be and become cross or perplexed if the information proves to be unreliable. Which makes me think about the whole topic of artificial intelligence and the impact it will have on our lives. We’ve been using computer generated weather forecasts for years but now I can begin to understand what the “metaverse” is all about. We will live virtual lives. No need for a doctor, your computer will make a diagnosis. Robots will carry out operations - they have been building cars for years. No need for lawyers, your computer will give you all the legal opinion you need. No need for judges, computers will calculate the degree of probability of guilt or innocence based upon the available evidence. No need to drive to the shops, just don your headset and you can walk around any shop you choose, anywhere in the world. Robots will fly, sail or drive your purchases to you. Design a building? Just think what you would like and a computer will design it for you. Robots will build it. Holiday? Just don your headset (or go into your emersive room) and you can be anywhere you choose. Google street view has allowed us to visit places without actually going there for years. The days when we needed to interact with a human being for banking, travel, insurance, in fact most consumer services have long gone. Why? Did we demand this? Who or what is driving the eradication of human beings from the workplace? Life is going to be lived through a computer. Not because that is what we want but because it is what Google, Amazon, Facebook etc want and, like most things in life, most people will meekly lap up these new offerings without any critical analysis of what they are, why they are and the actual consequences of a virtual life controlled by a computer programmed by the likes of Jeff Bezos. George Orwell should be a mandatory school curriculum author.