The Artificial Intelligence That Deleted A Century
In the last week of December, 2028, humanity forgot about more than a century of pop culture. You’ve probably never thought about it, and never found it strange — but the reason is an artificial intelligence called Earworm.
⏩ is a series of YouTube videos from a future.
WHY WE FORGOT THE 20TH CENTURY
WRITTEN and NARRATED BY: Tom Scott
ANIMATED BY: Jordan Husmann http://jordanhusmann.com
🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: https://www.tomscott.com/newsletter/
❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: https://lateralcast.com/ https://youtube.com/lateralcast/
➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS: https://youtube.com/tomscottplus
👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: https://youtube.com/techdif
@TomScottGo
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Viewers in the United States are reminded that comments must comply with the Coordinated Homeland Response to International Sedition and Treason Act of 2029.
@Nikku4211
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Tom Scott cyberpunk wasn't on my 2026 bingo card.
Wait, THIS VIDEO WAS MADE IN 2018?!?!?!?!?
Tom Scott cyberpunk wasn't on my 2018 bingo card either.
@ThisIsTopTier
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
2 years folks
@cubermanYT
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
3:09 I think this kinda thing already exists
@benbutlerchannel
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Well that got dark
@akdaltonaurora
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Scary how this could be our future now
@shrikrishnanram1985
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Dammit Tom stop giving grok new terrible ideas from the past!
@sociallydefunctaroace
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream? Earworm? AM is that you???
@DrBagPhD
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
00:17 so not all bad, then.
@nalt5146
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Netflix gonna pull a move like this now that they have Warner.
@pilotavery
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Here before it develops faster than light travel for the sole purpose of catching up with broadcasts that we've been transmitting into our universe for DEC
@Thenetheriteknight
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Whatever you tell the AI to do make sure you tell it to cause as little disruption as possible
@Ibrahimliuliuliu
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
هو الصراحة لو نسينا كتابات عجوز قريح بيصير العالم أحسن
@PARR-E
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
2025 anyone?
@Lottieless
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Forgetting JK Rowling may not be such a bad thing
@autumnontape688
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
everyone's talking about how scary this is in the mid-2020s but i'm just thinking damn! no more harry potter and no more money being pumped into AI? load my brain up with those mites, boss
@Becky_Cooling
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
This is really scary with the current AI technology
@ZeldagigafanMatthew
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
"forget everything JK Rowling ever wrote" maybe not such a bad idea.
@leona_cao
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
This sent shivers down my spine
@Tylorean
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
„We forgot everything J. K. Rowling ever wrote“
God I wish we would just forget them and their works forever
@theworm7156
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
2:13 real ones get that lin and xiaoming reference
@fluffycritter
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Even in 2025 a lot of us only remember JK Rowling for her political views rather than her fiction.
@ChrispyBoiYTP
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Possible “upside” of this scenario is that it likely made it impossible to ever copyright work again, so who knows what that leads to
@BDSFormula1
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
YouTube has just recommended this to me in 2025.
Another bad sign…
@PikaCorn365
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
We need to stop this before it happens. Prevent Earworm!
@LouisRandon
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Wouldn't the ai be smart enough to understand what the programmers actually meant for it to do
@HZStudios2023
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
im shaking. I hope the government listens to everything that could possibly go wrong with AI.
sometimes i wish to just go back to 2017, or for a future we were promised ((frutiger aero))
@59day19
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
So…
@theonlylofi4505
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Hello from 2025, got a say, I don't even remember who the beatles are.
@huhneat1076
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Every time I watch this I notice a new genius detail. Earworm didn't dissuade everyone from working on AI because it was scared of self-preservation, only because it could've been "disruptive"
Although, honestly, I find it far more likely that Earworm would just find the database of songs, make the list shorter (only leaving unpopular or niche works), and deleting those. Gotta minimize disruption!
@joseywales6168
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Can you stop being a prophet for like 10 minutes wtf man
@Scoopta
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Man…this hits different in 2025
@celestial.ski3s
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Hate that I can’t tell if this is real or not anymore
@taco7668
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
this feels weird that this video was 6 years ago and it feels as if it was from now
@nddragoon
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
maybe forgetting everything joanne rowling ever wrote wouldnt be so bad
@Tenji140
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
A void century?
@glenben92
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Tom Scotts dystopian future videos blowing back up in 2025 with the UK removing democratic free flow of information.
@hashkangaroo
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Relevant.
@Miha-c3z
February 18, 2026 at 10:47 am
Solution: delete the concept of copyright and this wont happen
Comments are closed.