The year 2026 marks a pivotal moment in the intersection of artificial intelligence and ancient studies. AI is no longer just a futuristic concept; it’s actively transforming how we understand and interact with the past, particularly in the challenging fields of deciphering ancient texts and languages. From virtually unrolling fragile scrolls to restoring fragmented inscriptions, AI is providing unprecedented access to historical knowledge that was once thought lost forever.

The Herculaneum Scrolls: A Glimpse into a Buried Library

One of the most compelling narratives in AI-driven decipherment revolves around the Herculaneum scrolls. Carbonized during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, these approximately 1,800 scrolls have remained largely unreadable for centuries, too fragile to unroll without disintegrating. However, the advent of AI and advanced imaging techniques has brought about a monumental breakthrough.

The Vesuvius Challenge, launched in March 2023, invited researchers to use AI to virtually unwrap and read these delicate artifacts. By early 2024, the challenge yielded remarkable results, with students successfully decoding five percent of one scroll, revealing legible Greek text, according to National Geographic. This success was built upon neural networks detecting ink patterns on the scrolls, even when invisible to the human eye. The latest findings, reported in October 2023 and published in January 2025, showcased clear Greek lettering, signaling a new era for papyrology, as highlighted by The Jerusalem Post. A subsequent contest for 2024 aims to translate 90 percent of four scanned scrolls, promising even deeper insights into this ancient Roman library. This ongoing effort demonstrates AI’s capacity to unlock vast pools of knowledge from previously inaccessible sources.

Google DeepMind’s Aeneas: Reconstructing Roman History

Another significant advancement comes from Google DeepMind and the University of Nottingham, who launched “Aeneas” in July 2025. Named after the Trojan hero, Aeneas is an AI tool designed to help historians contextualize and restore ancient Roman inscriptions. Epigraphy, the study of inscriptions, often deals with texts damaged by time and erosion, making complete decipherment a painstaking process.

Aeneas leverages a generative neural network trained on the Latin Epigraphic Dataset, an extensive collection of over 176,000 Latin inscriptions comprising some 16 million characters, according to Artnet News. This powerful tool can propose missing words in fragmented texts, even when the length of the gaps is unknown. Its accuracy is impressive, attributing inscriptions to one of 62 ancient Roman provinces with 72% accuracy and dating texts within 13 years of historical ranges, as reported by Convergence Now. This capability significantly accelerates the work of epigraphers, allowing them to explore broader geographical regions and time periods more efficiently, a sentiment echoed by The Art Newspaper.

Beyond Scrolls and Inscriptions: Diverse Applications of AI

The impact of AI extends beyond these high-profile projects, touching various facets of ancient studies:

• Palimpsest Decipherment: In September 2025, a Spanish study published in the journal Mathematics introduced an AI-driven formula for reading palimpsests – manuscripts where original text was erased to make way for new writing. This technology drastically reduces the labor required to uncover hidden texts, revealing layers of history beneath visible script, as detailed by El País.

• Archaeological Discovery: AI algorithms are being deployed to analyze vast datasets, identifying new archaeological sites and even detecting ancient geoglyphs that might be too small for traditional methods. For instance, research published in late 2024 in PNAS detailed an AI that discovered an additional 303 geoglyphs in Peru’s Nazca Desert, according to Artnet News. This capability is revolutionizing how archaeologists survey and identify potential sites, moving beyond human limitations.

• Upscaling Ancient Imagery: Neural networks are also being used to enhance and reconstruct ancient artifacts from old photographs. An example includes upscaling a 19th-century photograph of a stone relief at Indonesia’s Borobudur Temple into a high-fidelity 3D model, making previously indiscernible details accessible to scholars. This allows for virtual exploration and study of artifacts that might be physically inaccessible or too fragile to handle.

• Language Learning: The accessibility of ancient languages is also improving with AI. Apps like ‘Sanskrit M(A)L Education’ and ‘Sanskrit Learning ToolKit’ are making it easier for students and enthusiasts to learn languages like Sanskrit through interactive games, flashcards, and extensive dictionaries containing over 200,000 words, as noted by Oreate AI. This democratizes access to ancient knowledge, fostering a new generation of scholars and enthusiasts.

The Road Ahead: Collaboration and Ethical Considerations

While AI offers incredible potential, experts emphasize that it serves as a complement to human expertise, not a replacement. The challenges remain, particularly for truly undeciphered scripts with limited data or no known linguistic parallels. However, the rapid advancements in AI, including the development of more sophisticated large language models (LLMs) and specialized AI tools, suggest a future where even more ancient mysteries will be unraveled.

As we move further into 2026, the collaboration between AI researchers and humanities scholars will continue to deepen, fostering a new era of discovery and understanding of our shared human heritage. The ability of AI to process, analyze, and interpret data at scales impossible for humans is fundamentally democratizing access to ancient knowledge, allowing history to speak once more through the voices of those long past.

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References:

• nationalgeographic.com
• artnet.com
• jpost.com
• artnet.com
• convergence-now.com
• theartnewspaper.com
• youtube.com
• aihub.org
• smithsonianmag.com
• elpais.com
• oreateai.com
• historica.org
• quora.com
• medium.com
• dev.to
• growthyfai.com