AI sees the word "purple"

[gallienus1]

Luke Farritor, a 21-year-old computer-science student from University of Nebraska–Lincoln is the first to read something in a carbonized scroll from Herculaneum.
He developed a machine-learning algorithm that has detected Greek letters on several lines of the rolled-up papyrus, including πορϕυρας (porphyras), meaning ‘purple’.

Hopefully this is the start of our ability to read the carbonized library at last.

See-

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03212-1

[Meepzorp]

Hi gall,

This is interesting.

In addition to enjoying the hobby of ancient numismatics, I am also interested in computer programming. My website is evidence of this. Of course, the computer code in my website in all hand-written. I am not using Word Press or anything like that. I am coding it from scratch.

I find the merging of ancient numismatics (and other things from antiquity) with computer programming to be fascinating. This merger offer almost limitless possibilities. It also bridges the gap between the ancient past and the future.

Meepzorp

[Jochen]

I am quite stupid. Why do you need AI to read the word πορϕυρας?

Jochen

[Kevin D]

Recently, I watched a DVD documentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls. In one segment of the documentary, carbonized scrolls were being read with new scanning and software technology. This documentary was produced a few years ago.

I believe this link is to a related online video.
https://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvdssd-sci-xraytech/using-x-ray-technology-to-read-the-unreadable-dead-sea-scroll-detectives/

[Heliodromus]

I am quite stupid. Why do you need AI to read the word πορϕυρας?

From the article:

"Farritor used subtle, small-scale differences in surface texture to train his neural network and highlight the ink."

so I think this the output of the neural net - the highlighted version - not the input.