Google DeepMind has introduced Aeneas, a groundbreaking AI tool designed to help historians decode and restore ancient Latin inscriptions. Trained on a massive dataset of over 200,000 inscriptions and 16 million characters, Aeneas uses a generative neural network to analyze and reconstruct fragmented historical texts.
One of its key successes includes restoring parts of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, the record of Roman Emperor Augustus’s achievements. The tool achieves up to 73% accuracy when restoring inscriptions missing up to ten characters, offering scholars unprecedented support in interpreting long-eroded engravings.
By automating labor-intensive restoration tasks, Aeneas allows historians to focus on higher-level analysis, drawing connections across texts and uncovering new historical insights. This marks a major leap in applying AI to the humanities, with the potential to deepen our understanding of ancient civilizations and reshape archaeological research.
As Aeneas evolves, it promises to revolutionize how we recover and interpret the voices of the past.
