A Roman scroll that was partially preserved when Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79 has been virtually unwrapped and decoded using artificial intelligence (AI). The feat was achieved by three contestants in the Vesuvius Challenge, a competition that began in March 2023 with the aim of reading the ancient Herculaneum papyri. Papyrologists believe that the scroll contains never-before-seen text from antiquity, specifically a piece of Epicurean philosophy on the topic of pleasure. The winning submission reveals ancient Greek letters on a large section of the scroll, with the author discussing whether scarce things are more pleasurable.
The three members of the winning team had all individually made significant contributions to the competition. Luke Farritor, a computer science student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Youssef Nader, a machine learning Ph.D. student at Freie University in Berlin, were the first contestants to detect a smaller number of letters, earning $40,000 and $10,000 respectively. Julian Schilliger, a robotics student at ETH Zürich, developed a tool to automatically segment the scrolls. The team will share the $700,000 grand prize.
Nat Friedman, a tech investor and executive who helped organize the challenge, recently printed out the winning submission. He expressed his excitement, stating that seeing the scroll on paper made it feel more tangible compared to the digital world where it had previously existed. The Vesuvius Challenge not only showcased the potential of AI in decoding ancient texts but also demonstrated the collaborative efforts of individuals from different fields and backgrounds.
This breakthrough in deciphering the Roman scroll provides valuable insights into ancient philosophy and the mindset of the time. The text challenges the notion that scarce things are inherently more pleasurable than abundant ones, using food as an example. The winning submission has shed light on a previously unknown piece of Epicurean philosophy, expanding our understanding of ancient thought. The successful use of AI in this endeavor opens up new possibilities for researchers and scholars to unlock the secrets of the past and gain a deeper understanding of human history.
