"AI Deciphers Full Passages of Ancient Herculaneum Scrolls Buried by Mount Vesuvius"
Researchers have used artificial intelligence to decipher nearly complete passages from the famously inscrutable Herculaneum scrolls, shedding light on ancient philosophy from almost 2,000 years ago. By employing computer technology and advanced AI, more than 2,000 characters have been deciphered from a scroll without unrolling and risking damage to the extremely fragile documents. The team of researchers, winners of the Vesuvius Challenge, uncovered the text using a technique known as "virtual unwrapping" and hope to decipher almost an entire scroll this year, with a new grand prize contest offering a cash prize for the first team that can decipher at least 90% of all four scrolls released on the contest's website.