EAS Scenario: Neural Network Virus 1998 - Do Not Switch On (ITV VHS TV Continuity)

An ordinary Friday night on ITV, until the announcer is cut off mid-word. A 1998 public information announcement explains that a new kind of computer virus has been spreading across Britain: a small neural network from a university laboratory that teaches itself. Please do not switch on your computer. Or do. :D This is the worn VHS cut of a fictional, alternate-history "EAS scenario" (analog horror) set on Friday 13 November 1998, in a world with no chatbots or large language models, where "AI" is a neural network of 240 artificial nerve cells that was trained to catch viruses until a fault reversed its scoring. Nothing here is real. The alert, the network, the laboratory, the helpline number and every name and figure are invented, and this is not a real emergency or government notice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to ITV or LWT. The opening excerpt (and the ident that returns at the end) is genuine London ITV (LWT) continuity recorded in November 1998, from the upload "ITV Continuity 08 November 1998" by Up The Archives - The VHS Vault UK on YouTube. That footage belongs to ITV/LWT and its programme makers; everything else is original. CHAPTERS 0:00 Real ITV continuity (Nov 1998) 0:23 The alert cuts in 0:41 Important information for computer users 0:53 What has happened 1:18 Sites reporting 1:31 It learns 1:41 A neural network 2:14 The score was reversed 2:42 It cannot think 2:52 What it does 3:23 What you must do tonight 3:57 If your computer is already affected 4:19 Please 4:40 Government helpline 4:51 Midnight tonight 5:09 The announcement is repeated 5:23 Something else reads it 5:44 After midnight 5:54 Your computer is being connected 6:11 The ident returns Made with: hand-made cut-paper style graphics and text walls, synthetic (AI) narration and computer voice, locally generated and recorded sound effects, and original synthesised sound. The neural-network idea is loosely based on real 1990s anti-virus research (published in 1996) and the real 302-neuron roundworm. This audio was created with Boson AI's Higgs Audio — https://www.boson.ai/higgs-audio #EASScenario #AnalogHorror #VHS #neuralnetwork #90s #tvcontinuity #retrohorror