SCP-ES-186

Item: SCP-ES-186

Object Class: Euclid Keter

Special Containment Procedures: SUPREME TESSELATION protocol will be used to centralize the containment efforts under a cascade of events in 4 phases:

• Maintain a cadastre of existing SCP-ES-186-1 transmissions,
• Identify possible SCP-ES-186-3 manifestation points according to the AEGIS system,
• Lead the development of possible inoculation against SCP-ES-186-2,
• Suppress all collateral damage of SCP-ES-186 under any means available.

Blocking SCP-ES-186-1 has currently proven impractical due to logistical constraints. All SCP-ES-186 messages addressed to the Foundation should be expunged from the logs and all viewers amnestized. As a security measure, all personnel assigned to SUPREME TESSELATION shall have a Cognitive Endurance Index above 150 and score above 85 on the Milgram Obedience Test. At any sign of organizational questioning, use of the experimental counter-conceptual amnestic "Despoilment" and reassignment to other projects is authorized.

MTF φ-8 ("Electroventriloquism") will be tasked with mitigating any SCP-ES-186-3 concentrations that trigger episodes of civil violence through special radiometric control equipment and disinformation. Given the side effects of overexposure to SCP-ES-186-3, the φ-8 corps will be rotated on each deployment.

Description: SCP-ES-186 is a television signal transmitting antenna that appears to exist at multiple points on Earth at the same time. SCP-ES-186 instances tend to appear at random locations on the Earth's surface, usually on oceanic bodies more than 300 km from land or major shipping lanes, making them difficult to see with the naked eye. Any attempt to deliberately target the presumed locations of the antennas will cause them to move to another location at random, always appearing in places far from the population.

SCP-ES-186-1 corresponds to transmissions broadcast in unison by SCP-ES-186 instances, which are generally received on TV sets with analog antennas that are tuned to static for more than six minutes between 12:00 AM and 5:00 AM¹. With a ~5% probability, the televisions will broadcast a variety of programs similar to those that might be seen on public television, such as newscasts, soap operas, movies, cartoons, reports, documentaries, and commercials. However, all of SCP-ES-186-1's documented programs allude to the existence of various types of totalitarian governments (some with an anomalous basis) in their origin. SCP-ES-186-1 is not anomalous per se and its transmissions can be blocked by a Faraday cage.

SCP-ES-186-2 is a set of memetic elements present along SCP-ES-186-1 transmissions. These agents are presented as visual, phonological, melodic or narrative elements, in an exposed or subliminal form. The Memetics Department has identified that these agents behave in a modular fashion, reinforcing their effects on the human mind the more they are perceived over time. In turn, as enough of them accumulate in a critical mass, they will act as psychometric triggers that will generate an isolated telepathic network between subjects affected by SCP-ES-186-2, and turn them into repeaters of the signals emitted by SCP-ES-186. If a second critical mass of affected people (called SCP-ES-186-3) gathers in a relatively small area, they will begin to work together with the aim of generating instances for the enactment of a totalitarian government. Typically this is seen in the form of protests and acts against the established order of their local governments, and, as more people join SCP-ES-186-3, the acts will become better organized and effective, though often more violent and notorious to the community at large.

Documented SCP-ES-186 transmissions

Sample representation of anomalous transmissions detected at Site-3. To view the full document, request Level 2 clearance.

Code	Content	Memetic agent involved
186-1-001	The beautiful blue flag - A series set in the 'United Mexican States', in which they take advantage of the events of the U.S. Civil War to subjugate the Southern Confederacy as a satellite state. It stars Adam Lovelock, an industrialist who seeks to turn the Confederate states into a prosperous place based on progress during the Reconstruction era. In this reality, slavery was not abolished.	The bar scene, where Lovelock says the phrase "Half measures don't exist, water is water and oil is oil, they serve their purpose but they won't be useful to you if you mix them" to his partner Hadowell.
186-1-018	Katerb airlines - Airline advertisement, promoting several destinations with special discounts, and showing places of interest. It is remarkable the constant presence of defensive structures, especially anti-aircraft, in each of the destinations. Because of the similarity of the flags and the single currency, it is assumed that it is some form of economic-military union.	Vexillological design2 present in all the landscapes. When the wind blows, the flap makes its sigils intermingle, spelling out messages3.
[At this point, there were minor incidents at Site-3. The memetic filters in the transmissions were increased.]
186-1-031	The wolf's mouth of infinite teeth - Documentary program that narrates the events of a war of great proportions that took place in Southeast Asia and that would become a world war years later. This war is set in a time equivalent to the 19th century, and culminates 34 years later with the victory of the 'Pan-Oceanic Empire of Siam and Australasia'. The documentary is subtitled in English and Portuguese and has a strong proselytizing nature.	The credits song, a melody composed in F mixolydian ♭7, whose lyrics allude to 'those who could not fight and therefore deserved subjugation'.
186-1-057	"Teghlari Ngukhaew" - Newscast in an unknown language, apparently made up, with an extremely reduced vocabulary. The content of the news suggests that it is a regime of religious cut, with two notable figures prayed to after each news item. Based on the locations shown and the weather forecast delivered at the end, it is inferred that it would correspond to post-glaciation survivors on Earth. They deploy highly advanced technology.	Gatillo fonotáctico de la forma Phonotactic trigger in the shape /VɣɮV/.4 present in the language of 186-1-057.
186-1-088	1956 Transleitania Olympic Games5 - 16th edition of the Olympic Games in the nation-state of Transleitania, eleven years after its secession from the Austro-Hungarian Empire still in existence at that time. Somogyi István, representing Transleitania, won the silver medal in the triathlon discipline by a difference of 1 minute and 47 seconds against Boudewijn Westhuijs, from the 'Kingdom of Flanders'. Subsequently, Somogyi István was executed.	Chants from the audience, who shouted A király figyel téged6 repeatedly in the jogging phase of the triathlon, when István was overtaken by Westhuijs.
186-1-166	[REDACTED] Energy drink. - Advertisement for an energy drink, in an altered version of Spanish. The images show children between 10 and 17 years old in high-risk industrial and construction work, in what appears to be an ecumenopolis7. A unique trademark is visible on all buildings, objects and elements of the advertisement.	The product name, as well as the brand logo. Due to the high memetic load of the transmission, some incidents were generated in Site-3.
186-1-243	Government Public Service Announcement - Governmental alert to warn about communities "disconnected from the parthenoospheric network" after a sharp drop in the number of thoughts processed by the central units. They ask the population to look for them in order to connect them to "network #541", under punishment of sending them to that same network in case of refusal to collaborate.	The eyes of the subjects looking directly into the camera. Of note is their characteristic blue-purple color, as well as sounds of stringed instruments rubbing in the background of the audio.
186-1-498	Under the stars - A Late Night Show style program starring an individual known as "S. Lambert", similar in appearance to a Homo neanderthalis, where he interviews several beings of his own species. It can be seen that both S. Lambert and the other H. neanderthalis present show reality bending capabilities. No instances of H. sapiens are seen in the program, but they are referred to, calling their genetics "poor" and "a pitiful misfortune". The events that catalyzed the SK-Class Dominance Shift event are shown.	Narreme [INFOHAZARD EXPUNGED] and the chroma background of the stage where cities with a remarkable gothic architecture can be appreciated.
186-1-611	[UNKNOWN] - A space agency celebration. Six astronauts are seen being injected with an unknown liquid prior to rocket launch. Based on the images, the subjects were found guilty of high treason and punished with 'immortality'. Applause from the population, the entire audience is observed to be expressionless. Three subjects are executed on video.	[REDACTED]

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LEVEL 3 READING ONLY

Discovery of SCP-ES-186

77th Infantry Division in the Forest of Argonne, September 1918.

The first iteration of SCP-ES-186 was documented during World War I, manifested through jamming the field radios of U.S. expeditionary forces during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in September 1918. SCP-ES-186 was, among other events, indirectly involved in the Lost Battalion Incident⁸ on October 2 during the offensive, when SCP-ES-186 interrupted the transmissions of the allied units, unaware that they were being stalled in their advance.

Message transcription, October 2, 1918:

[ILLEGIBLE] would be a bastion of peace. Then Nemeş said: imagine a great tower, mighty, taller than anything that has ever been built before. The power of 3.7 gigawatts within reach of any great city, the judgment of Thor's own hand to pulverize any enemy with the audacity to sully our lands. How could we conceive of war in that way? There would be no man or machine capable of approaching, on land, sea or air, of attempting to glance and wield the sword upon our citizens. Reason or the sword is no more, for the blade falls melted by the Lightning. Likewise, there will be none to raise their voice, to destroy, to burn the streets, to defy the hand of those who seek only the best for their people. No wall is impermeable to the Watchman, no cover is impenetrable to the Lightning. Absolute peace will be assured.

That transmission lasted approximately 26 minutes, and given the close proximity of the units, triggered an SCP-ES-186-3 event in just 34 hours. On October 4, when the French unit finally managed to contact the 77th, an incident occurred where a group affected by SCP-ES-186 opened fire on the French, mentioning that they were "another enemy". See Document WWI-4.10.18 for declassified information on this incident.

With the invention and commercialization of the cathode ray television, SCP-ES-186 ceased to manifest itself on radios and took its present form, adapting to the aesthetics of the programs of the time and fitting notable events in history.

Transcription of program broadcasted by SCP-ES-186 in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1958:

The program takes the form of a claymotion animation⁹ with a humanoid protagonist referred to as Johann, who is on one side of the blue room reading books, while looking at the other side which is tinged with a reddish color. A voiceover narrates the story.

"Johann has always been told to think for himself. That knowledge is the gateway that shapes Thought, and that Thought in turn, guides Action. Johann knows that good men act like good men, that their steps are guided by wise strategies and goal-focused approaches." (Scene shifts to Johann in the dining room, as two figures argue.) "However, Johann has seen that not everyone thinks alike. From arguments at his dinner table, to big fights, people never seem to agree. And we know that Action is a reflection of what you think. It is not as they say, that one acts without thinking, but rather, that Thinking is a divergent act." (Another scene of several blue-brained subjects fighting with swords against red-brained subjects.) "And as a result, our Actions will be divergent. Would it not be wonderful to relegate other, wiser men to think for us? And that, in consequence, we have only our Actions to command?"

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LEVEL 4 READING ONLY

Major incidents related to SCP-ES-186

For all purposes, a 'major incident' has been termed any event that:

• Involves more than one thousand subjects in a SCP-ES-186-3 network.
• Affects the normality of the civilian population in their day to day life
• Has been partially covered by any mass media

Incident at Woqooyi Galbeed, Somalia, 2 April 1961

Following the merger of British Somaliland into the Somaliland Trust, the Foundation reported that the incidence of SCP-ES-186 transmissions increased some twenty-fold on television sets in the region. Six days later, an SCP-ES-186-3 network of at least 1,344 people (dubbed -186-3α) was identified, who advocated against the union of Somaliland, calling it "a weak state, forever condemned to the shadow of history" and "a puppet of European policies, distancing it from Allah." Although the protests were appeased, the population continued to hold organized actions against the union. The amnestics were ineffective in eliminating the memetic agents. Site 3α was built¹⁰ to find a method of disassembling the memetic modularity in 186-3α minds.

Subsequently, an incident on May 17, 1963, in the Hargeisa market left 46 dead, 212 wounded, and 48 people affected by additional SCP-ES-186 in an attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. The event was effectively foiled and subsequently removed from public records. The participants were subjected to experimental treatment, who spoke that "the promulgation of a great caliphate in the Horn of Africa was not only possible, but necessary, and a divine obligation."

When the SCP-ES-186-3α homes were surveyed, they found that their televisions were tuned to numerous programs that alluded to "waging Jihad," most notably a quiz show featuring non-Muslims who had to pass various types of lethal tests in order to win a random prize each episode. It should be noted that these tests have an indoctrinating character, since the winners of each edition claim to convert to Islam once they have passed them.

Incident at Stepanakert, Azerbaijan, February 19, 1988

Based on the events in Somalia, Brazil and Cyprus, Site 3ζ was preemptively established in Azerbaijan following the events of Operation KEYNESIAN TENSOR and the events during the rule of Mikhail Gorbachev in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Operation KEYNESIAN TENSOR revealed increased tensions between the Azeri and Armenian populations in the Upper Karabakh region, which in turn coincided with a large number of SCP-ES-186-1 transmissions spreading throughout much of the Caucasus. Despite the Foundation's efforts to counter SCP-ES-186-1, a group of at least 1,800 people (listed as -186-3ζ) were affected, undertaking communal meetings with Armenian inhabitants.

An unrelated event on February 1, 1988 brought the attention of the Global Occult Coalition to the region, where the 52 members of Strike Team-1188 "Psintagms" had their optical implants affected by SCP-ES-186 within 3 days, ceasing to respond to High Command signals and considered Missing in Action.¹¹. A routine observation found that several members of the 1188th, not wearing their regulation uniforms, were strategically positioned in the middle of the streets to maximize the range of the transmissions. In spite of repeated attempts to sedate the instances via ballistics, the transmissions did not diminish.

On February 22, a critical mass of almost two thousand people was achieved, who went to the outskirts of Stepanakert, where they clashed with an Azeri military unit, leaving 10 civilians dead and the entire 1188th killed. In an attempt to suppress this event, an Assessment Team found two members of the 1188th inside Sitie-3ζ, sedated and with their implants removed as part of local containment protocol. That finding caused a schism between the Foundation and the GOC, causing the loss of collaboration between the two organizations in Soviet territory, a situation that continued until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.

Of particular interest is the fact that all SCP-ES-186 broadcasts in the area only affected the population of Armenian nationality. The programs emphasized the cultural identity of the peoples, being the central theme in any form of broadcasted programs. Subjects of Azeri origin exposed to these broadcasts were not affected, indicating a certain degree of selectivity on the part of SCP-ES-186.

Incident at [REDACTED], October 24, 2003

The most severe SCP-ES-186 outbreak occurred during a soccer match in [REDACTED], where the broadcast occurred directly on the giant screens of the stadium in the region, with an estimated 70,000 people present at the time, following a malfunction in the local video signal. In less than 5 minutes, all the viewers were repeating the signal in a radius of 3 km, affecting an estimated 45 thousand additional people in the city, while the event was transmitted by satellite television.

From Site-34, an EMP missile was approved to be launched at the location to prevent the exponential spread of SCP-ES-186. In a violent outburst, all affected subjects in the critical mass began destroying all electronic devices within reach. At least 962 deaths were recorded as a result of self-harm, as they attempted to destroy implants and grafts in their bodies. Fortunately, the destruction of the electronic security mechanisms in the stadium kept the critical mass contained inside until the EMP detonation 21 minutes later.

The detected transmissions consisted simply of natural scenery and wildlife in action, with a large memetic charge in each of the programs. Despite the Foundation's efforts to amnestize the population and control collateral damage, the region has shown a dramatic increase in radical environmentalist tendencies, such as anarchoprimitivism¹² and ecofascism¹³.

On May 1, 2006, following an 11-2 vote by the O5 Command, the development of the Global Electrotehumic Analyzer of Social Instability, or AEGIS in spanish, was approved to prognostically detect possible uprisings caused by SCP-ES-186 and allow the installation of an extended Site-3 in the area to counteract its effects. The latest, called Site-3υ, was constructed in February 2019 in Puerto Williams, Chile.

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LEVEL 5 READING ONLY

SCP-ES-186 Exploration

On December 19, 2018, Site-114 located on the Antarctic Peninsula sighted an instance of SCP-ES-186 in relative close proximity in the middle of the Drake Passage. Through liaison with the Trident submarine Hrīmceald, an expedition proceeded from deep under the ice to attempt to reach the transmitting antenna, employing DSVs.¹⁴ equipped with Desruisseaux's radirresonant metamaterials¹⁵ to ensure a stealthy approach.

At the time the DSVs were below the point of appearance of SCP-ES-186, the team reported that the area where the instance emerged was an SSARV2-L spatial anomaly.¹⁶ from where the original antenna was projected, as if it were a mirror, in its original reality, with inconsistent details, including the univocal presence of humanoid figures inside cryonic capsules distributed throughout SCP-ES-186, connected to psionic amplification and preservation systems, in a layered configuration resembling a convolutional neural network¹⁷.

At T+1:02 hours from the arrival at the point of appearance of SCP-ES-186, the ultrasonic receivers of the DSVs began to receive a large number of pulses, forming a message, which was also transmitted to the Hrīmceald with a slight delay. After three minutes, direct contact with the source of the transmission, called SCP-ES-186-4, was authorized via the digital signal from Hrīmceald, the first instance of digital signal utilization by SCP-ES-186. Transcription of messages below:

Location: 60°24'11" S, 59°35'18" W, Shackleton Fracture Zone, Drake Passage, Antarctica.
Channel transmitter: SCP-ES-186-4
Channel receiver: Trident Submarine SCPS Hrīmceald

SCP-ES-186-4: [White/brown noise] I apologize for that cacophony of unpleasant sounds. I hope no one down there was distempered by it, but these devices are some of the strangest I've ever seen. Fascinating, but strange. do you read me?

SCPS Hrīmceald: We copy loud and clear, SCP-ES-186-4.

SCP-ES-186-4: Oh, right. What names you come up with. Behind conspicuous and obscure nomenclatures, like the great dictators of history. It's not for nothing that the esoteric and occult is attractive to you, is it? I'm sure you understand that.

SCPS Hrīmceald: That's where you're wrong, SCP-ES-186-4.

SCP-ES-186-4: And why would that be?

SCPS Hrīmceald: We are here to protect humanity from the anomalous and the unknown.

SCP-ES-186-4: Yes, of course. And that's just what gets my attention the most. I have been tracking you, watching your movements. An invisible hand to mankind, to keep them safe, based on their worldview. The Veil, you call it. Who decides which things lie behind the Veil and which things do not? Who decides when something is anomalous?

SCPS Hrīmceald: That's classified information, SCP-ES-186-4.

SCP-ES-186-4: Of course it is. And it's perfect. It os excellent, it could npt be better. Rather, it is the only way it could be, after all, what are dictators without a group to impose themselves upon, unaware?

SCPS Hrīmceald: The SCP Foundation has a mission to maintain a stable, sane, normal world for ordinary people. All of our work is nothing more than a selfless dedication to our mission of ensuring a sane humanity protected from abnormalities. That includes you, SCP-ES-186-4. We don't seek to corrupt or wield absolute power, we seek to be an active player in rationalizing the abnormal and contributing to the advancement of human societies, one step at a time.

SCP-ES-186-4: Oh, that sounds very eloquent, very convincing. Finding the right words makes imposing an agenda sound even desirable to those who hear them. But you do not have to hide their true intentions with someone like me. We are more alike than you would like to admit. We can speak with complete sincerity.

SCPS Hrīmceald: No. We are not dictators, as much as it may seem so to you.

SCP-ES-186-4: (laughs out loud) It is fine, it is always the same with you guys.

SCPS Hrīmceald: What do you mean? What are you talking about?

SCP-ES-186-4: I am going to tell you something. I have seen how the "ordinary" citizens as you call them have watched your screens during the broadcasts. I have seen their jubilant reactions. Little televisions, talking to them, and they listen, no matter where they are. The ultimate goal of power is itself. It is inalienable whichever way you look at it. All power converges and gravitates towards concentrating everything, to the craving for more and more. Those who try to contain that impulse end up being replaced by other figures who are more ambitious, more charismatic, more perfect in the eyes of others. Sometimes with a subtle movement, sometimes with a violent and furious act.

The transmission shows a mosaic of people giving speeches. It is not possible to distinguish any of them, but each one has the presence of large crowds that shout in support.

SCP-ES-186-4: People manage to understand, with a little help from me of course, that dictatorships are the perfect order in the universe. They always have been, they form the framework under which humanity best moves. Today more than ever, they are a whetstone, reforging a blunt society into an effective blade against any enemy. Do not believe me? Nature, genetics, evolution, reality. They are all dictatorships, imposed on the living. To turn against them could augur their destruction.

SCP-ES-186-4: You are an exceptional dictatorship. You have proclaimed yourselves as protectors of humanity and have created a halo of secrecy so well achieved that you have avoided even uprisings against you. How could anyone rebel against normality, if they do not even have the means to know that this normality is imposed by an organization?

SCPS Hrīmceald: We don't seek power for the sake of it. None of what you say makes sense.

SCP-ES-186-4: Please, are you always going to give me the same answer?

SCPS Hrīmceald: What's the point of this question? Let's not waste any more time. Plans are already in place for your containment. There is not much time left until…

SCP-ES-186-4: (in a mocking tone) …until you are completely controlled. Yes, I knew exactly how that sentence would end.

SCPS Hrīmceald: (heard faintly over the microphone) What the hell is going on?

SCP-ES-186-4: I have had this conversation… about sixty thousand times? I can see everything, all the threads. I've seen every universe where it exists, and where I have been confronted, with every line identical, as if it were a boring, rehashed script. I thought this time it would not be the case. It always ends the same, but fear not. My plan is for you to perpetuate your power.

(high-pitched static noises for 26 seconds)

SCP-ES-186-4: You have stopped technological progress, which could lead mankind into a golden age. You have used the lives of countless D-Class, of all ages and races. You have committed genocide on so many anomalous species. You have manipulated and twisted the memories of entire populations, played with the events of entire countries, written and rewritten history a thousand and one times, and continue to hide behind the idea that, if the Veil falls, the world will collapse under chaos and panic.

The broadcast now shows various scenes of the Foundation, administering amnestics to the public, various field tests with D-Class Personnel, as well as Mobile Task Forces in combat with anomalous life forms.

SCP-ES-186-4: Know that the world does not need you, as you like to believe. It is you, Foundation, who need the world to live. I have seen realities where you do not exist, others where civilization coexists with the anomalous, others where your whole idea of the Veil falls apart. Humanity persists in each of them. They know that deep down, the world does not need their security, nor their containment, nor their protection. It is just a creed they have repeated as a mantra to justify their existence and perpetrate their invisible hand over the entire world.

SCPS Hrīmceald: All right, and what would be your conclusion to all of this? Your message to us?

SCP-ES-186-4: Keep it up. You make me proud, you are the most effective unnatural dictatorship I have ever encountered. But I cannot let them go. You know, I have seen so many endings to this conversation that whenever I let them off the hook, they end up spoiling everything. Besides, it is a crucial event for you to eventually absorb the Global Occult Coalition so you can wield ultimate power, and no one can ever overthrow you. It is nothing personal.

After this event, the SCP-ES-186 instance dematerialized along with the DSVs, and all contact with Hrīmceald was lost 4 minutes later. Reclassification to Keter approved.

Footnotes

1. This timeslot does not depend on the location, but on the internal clock of the TV set. It is possible to "trick" SCP-ES-186 to tune its transmission to other timeslots by setting the clock manually.

2. Vexillology is the study of flags, including designs, historical significance, evolution and regulations.

3. The messages Eurasia, "Unforgiven and unforgotten", "No bombs can extinguish the fervor", "We will snatch from you the name 'imperishable'" and "452 days" have been decoded.

4. Vowel + voiced velar fricative + voiced alveolar lateral fricative + Vowel. Phonotactic structure that does not exist in natural languages.

5. Although the year is 1956, the technological level is identical to the current one. - Dr. Exequías Weiss.

6. "The king is watching you," in Hungarian.

7. From the Greek οἰκουμένη, oecumene, "world," and πόλις, polis "city," "one city in the whole world"; it is the hypothetical concept of a single planetary city covering the entire surface.

8. Incident in which 554 men of the 77th U.S. Infantry Division were cut off by German Empire forces during an Allied offensive in the Forest of Argonne.

9. Claymotion is a type of volume animation (or stop motion) in which some malleable material, such as plasticine, is used to create the frames.

10. Subsequently, the construction of extensions of Site 3 with its own designation was considered for study, research and monitoring in areas affected by localized outbreaks of -186-3.

11. Although the technology of the implants was Gen+1 (Cutting Edge Technology), they operated under analog signals.

12. Anarcho-primitivism is a trend that advocates deindustrialization and a return to a primitive life of hunting and gathering, claiming that civilization since agriculture is the source of social stratification and coercion.

13. Theoretical political model in which an authoritarian government will require individuals to sacrifice their own interests to the organic stability of nature.

14. Deep Submergence Vehicle.

15. Flexible metal plates that react to electromagnetic oscillatory pulses, vibrating in such a way that they cancel them out, preventing their detection by sonars.

16. Stable, Stationary, Autonomous, Reduced, Volatile, 2-way, Linear

17. A convolutional neural network is a type of artificial neural network where neurons correspond to receptive fields in a manner very similar to neurons in the primary visual cortex of a biological brain. They have applications in image recognition, recommender systems, medical data analysis and natural language processing.