Name: How AI is decoding ancient scrolls
Uploaded: 2025-01-17T15:59:31Z
Duration: 14 min 45 s
Description: AI researcher Youssef Nader and digital archaeologist Julian Schilliger share how they used AI to virtually "unroll" and decode the Herculaneum scrolls, burnt and buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago. Learn how AI could help decipher a range of artifacts, revealing clues about the mysteries and achievements of the ancient world.

AI researcher Youssef Nader and digital archaeologist Julian Schilliger share how they used AI to virtually "unroll" and decode the Herculaneum scrolls, burnt and buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago. Learn how AI could help decipher a range of artifacts, revealing clues about the mysteries and achievements of the ancient world.

How AI is decoding ancient scrolls

Artificial intelligence is now reaching into the past, virtually unrolling and decoding ancient scrolls never before read by human eyes. Using advanced imaging and machine learning, researchers recovered 2,000 Greek characters from papyrus scrolls buried by Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago. What was once destroyed and inaccessible has become a window into lost worlds. This breakthrough shows AI’s power to unlock knowledge long thought lost.