When El Jefe slid me yet another story on AI I started to huff and puff. But, when I saw the purpose of AI was a good one, I was delighted.
University of Nebraska student, Luke Farritor, joined a worldwide competition to translate ancient Roman scrolls which were once lost in the cataclysmic aftermath of Mount Vesuvius’ explosion. The scrolls remained trapped under layers of volcanic ash and mud. The scrolls remained unreadable for decades. The scrolls are believed to have belonged to Julius Caesar’s father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus.
Reading ancient scrolls retrieved from volcanic ash is no easy feat. Over the decades, archeologists and scientists devised clever ways of reading ancient latin from old scrolls. Most archeologists fear unraveling the scrolls will severely damage causing them to fall to pieces and rendering them lost to time.
A Clever Use of AI
Back to Luke. Luke had already written an AI for the task and was waiting for his chance. It came one night while he was partying in August. He received a text at the party containing a an image of the scorched scroll. I don’t know if he was in between shots or beer pong, but he stole himself to a corner and uploaded the image to his AI.
He took an early night from the party and around 1am that morning, his AI sent him the results of its work. His AI was able to understand a dozen letters from the scroll netting Luke a cool $40,000 for his contribution to Ancient Roman archeology.
I was completely amazed. I freaked out a little bit, jumping up and down, yelling, and screaming.”
Luke Farritor to The Washington Post
Papyrologists translated Luke’s letter into “porphyrias.” The word means “purple” in Greek.
Luke competed in the Vesuvius Challenge. The challenge aims to award $1,000,000 to people who help archaeologists decipher the contents of scrolls found under Mount Vesuvius’ rubble. The challenge has awarded two prizes already, and thanks to Luke the largest prize of $700,000 is within reach.
Reading these scrolls have been a herculean effort. Teams have used X-ray technology to map scrolls’ contents, and employed the use of particle accelerators to read in between furls of burnt papyrus. Artificial intelligence has provided a breakthrough to understanding the thoughts and deeds of Julius’ Caesar’s father-in-law.
He was a Roman senator and his scrolls could contain anything. Dirt on his political foes, philosophies on government, or ad libs. He could have been complaining about how Caesar treated Calpurnia. We’re that much closer to gaining more insightful thoughts on Roman government or good ole fashioned dirt on political rivals wearing purple robes.
-MJ