In a recent Nature article, science journalist Jo Marchant discusses how AI is using neural networks to unlock ancient texts. Marchant describes how researchers are using AI tools for tasks such as reading text from scorched papyrus scrolls, reconstructing ancient texts, and translating historical archives. The author writes that AI is particularly powerful at deciphering previously unreadable texts by drawing on new processes that detect the carbon-based ink used on scrolls. While AI will help produce a flood of information for scholars, Marchant also notes that there are also concerns about its accuracy, replicability, spurious results, and accessibility.
Nature
